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ARBOR DAY 

EXERCISES 




ARBOR DAY 



EXERCISES 

FOR THE 

SCHOOL-ROOM 



COMPILED BY 



E. ISABEL REVELL 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

BOSTON 

New Yore Chicago San Fkancisco 



,Ib 



COPYEIGHT, 1909 
BY 

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 



LIS.WARY of CONGRESS 

I wo OoLies Rec-eived 

MAY 6 Wd 

CtASS Ow KAc, No.i 
COPY d. * 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Arbor Day Exercise. Margaret Kidd .... 5 

Among the Trees. Blanchard F. Hicks . . . i8 

A Tale of an Ancient Wood. Alice E. Allen ... 28 

Mother Nature's Arbor Day. Grace B. Faxon . . 44 

Choosing the Tree. Lizzie M. Hadley . . . • 5^ 

With the Trees. Olive E. Dana .... 74 

Historic Trees 9^ 

Arbor Day with the Trees and Flowers. M. A. Bryant 106 
The Tree and Man. Clarence M. Weed. . . .121 

Why We Keep Arbor Day 127 



ARBOR DAY 



Arbor Day Exercise 

Margaret Kidd 

(Any appropriate songs may be substituted for those given here.) 

Our Neighbors 

First pupil 

"How in the world can I grow up," 
A tiny little seed once said, 

"With all this heavy, black old earth 
Crowded down upon my head?" 

"I'm tired, cold and lonely, too, 

Buried deep away out of sight; 
There's nothing here for me to do 
And not a speck of light." 

"Stay, stay," the other seeds cried out, 

"The rest of us all know 
There s plenty of work for us to do ; 
But first we'll have to grow." 

"There's work for you and there's work for me. 
Just keep on growing and you will see 

5 



What there is for all of us to do; 

What there is for me and what there is for you. 

*'Just bide your time, my little friend, 
And patiently, faithfully trust to the end. 
We must grow a little every day 
While in this dark, damp spot we stay." 

Second pupil 

In the heart of a seed 

Buried deep, so deep, 
A dear little plant 

Lay fast asleep. 

"Wake," said the sunshine, 

"And creep to the light;" 
"Wake," said the voice 

Of the raindrops bright. 

The little plant heard 

And it rose to see 
What the beautiful 

Outside world might be. — Set, 

Third pupil 

The trees are full of crimson buds 
And the woods are full of birds; 

And the water flows to music 
Like a tune with pleasant words. 

— N, P. Willis 



Fourth pupil 

March! March! March! They will hurry 

Forth at the wild bugle sound. 
Blossoms and birds in a flurry 

Fluttering all over the ground. 
Hang out your flags, birch and willow! 

Shake out your red tassels, larch! 
Up, blades of grass, from your pillow. 

Hear who is calling you — March ! 

— Lucy Larcom. 
Fijth pupil 

Recites "Oh! you pussy willow," from ''Songs and 
Games for Little Ones," by Jenks and Walker. 

Class 

Song, ** Pussy Willow," from Educational Music Course. 

Sixth pupil 

New are the leaves on the oaken spray. 

New the blades of the silky grass; 
Flowers that were buds but yesterday, 
Peep from the ground where'er I pass. 

— Bryant 
Seventh pupil 

(Recites "The Planting of the Apple Tree," by William 
Cullen Bryant. 

Class 

Song, "Swinging ^Neath the Old Apple Tree," from 
"The Singer." 



8 

Eighth pupil 

We have a secret, just we three, 
The robin and I and the sweet cherry tree; 
The bird told the tree and the tree told me, 
And nobody knows it but just we three. 

But of course the robin knows it best. 
Because he built the — I sha'n't tell the rest ; 
And laid the four little — somethings in it — 
I am afraid I shall tell it every minute. 

But if the tree and the robin don't peep, 
I'll try my best the secret to keep; 
Though I know when the little birds fly about. 
Then the whole secret will be out. 

— From ''Little Flower Folks'' 
Class 

Song, "What Robin Told," from Educational Music 
Course. 

Ninth pupil 

(Recites *'Sir Robin," by Lucy Larcom.) 

Tenth pupil 
(Recites "The Brown Thrush," by Lucy Larcom.) 

Eleventh pupil 

The bluebird chants from the elm's long branches 
A hymn to welcome the budding year. 



The south wind wanders from field to forest, 
And softly whispers, "The Spring is here." 

— Bryant 
Twelfth pupil 

A Wonder Story 

A bunch of dry dead leaves 

To a bare, brown willow clung, 
And all the winter through 

In the icy breezes swung. 

Even when the springtime came, 

And the tree was clad in green, 
Still on the topmost bough 

Might the withered leaves be seen. 

'*If I could reach," said a boy one day, 

**I'd I pluck those leaves and throw them away." 

Out from the dry, dead leaves 

Came a beautiful butterfly. 

It fluttered from twig to twig, 

And spread its wings for flight. 
Leaving the child below 
To marvel at the sight. 
"I certainly never dreamed," said he, 

That such a wonderful thing could be." 

— Sel. 
Class 

Song, "Leaves at Play," from Educational Music 
Course. 



lO 

Thirteenth pupil 

The Ripened Leaves 

Said the leaves upon the branches 

One sunny autumn day, 
"We've finished all our work, and now 

We can no longer stay. 
So our gowns of red and yellow, 

And our cloaks of sober brown 
Must be worn before the frost comes 

And we go rustling down. 

"We have had a jolly summer. 

With the birds that build their nests 
Beneath our green umbrellas, 

And the squirrels that were our guests. 
But we cannot wait for winter. 

And we do not care for snow; 
When we hear the wild northwesters 

We loose our clasp and go. 

"But we hold our heads up bravely 
Unto the very last, 
And shine in pomp and splendor 

As away we flutter fast. 
In the mellow autumn noontide 

We kiss and say good-bye; 
And through the naked branches 
Then may children see the sky." 

— Margaret Sangster 



II 

Class 

Song, "Autumn Leaves," from Educational Music 
Course. 

Fourteenth pupil 

Who Loves the Trees Best ? 

Who loves the trees best ? 
''I," said the Spring. 
"Their leaves so beautiful 
To them I bring." 

Who loves the trees best? 
"I," Summer said. 
"I give them blossoms, 
White, yellow, red." 

Who loves the trees best ? 
"I," said the Fall. 
"I give luscious fruits, 
Bright tints to all." 

Who loves the trees best ? 

"I love them best," 
Harsh Winter answered, 

I give them rest." 
— Alice May Douglas in the Independent 

Fifteenth pupil 

"Time is never wasted listening to the trees," etc. 

— Lucy Larcom 



12 

Sixteenth^ Seventeenth, Eighteenth pupils 

We have come to tell you stories about some strange 
trees. 

The banyan trees in India are very curious. After 
the branches are about twenty feet long, they bend and 
strike root in the ground. These send out branches 
which in turn bend down and strike root. In this way 
a whole forest has been made from one tree. 

The cow tree grows in South America. Its branches 
are bare and appear to be dead. This, however, is not 
true, for if you cut little notches in the trunk, there will 
flow out a liquid which looks and tastes like milk. People 
living in the neighborhood go every morning to get their 
supply of milk for the day. 

The cocoanut palm tree is one of the most useful of 
all trees. It is found in India and on the Islands in the 
Pacific. It is very tall, with fifteen or twenty leaves at 
the top, and often a cluster of nuts under the leaves. 

The native builds his cabin with the wood and thatches 
his roof with the leaves. He makes his chairs, tables, and 
dishes from the shells of the nuts. He makes a pudding 
from the meat of the nut. He has wine from the flower 
stalks. When this wine sours, it is vinegar; when it is 
boiled, it makes sugar. From the nut he gets oil for his 
lamps and his cooking. He also gets soap from the oil. 

The leaves of the tree furnish thread, which is woven 
into cloth. From these leaves are made ropes, mats, 
hats, brushes, and many other things. 



13 

Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first pupils 

We call to your mind a few trees noted in history. 
Tell story of the Washington Elm, the Charter Oak, 
and of Longfellow's Chestnut Tree. 

Twenty-seco7id, Twenty-third, Twenty -jourih, Twenty- 
fijth pupils 

We have come to tell you what the poets have written 
about our native trees. 

Celia Thaxter says: 

"The alder by the river 

Shakes out her powder}^ curls; 
The willow buds in silver 
For little boys and girls. 

Longfellow mentions several kinds of wood in "Hia- 
watha." 

(Recites) 

"Give me of your bark, O Birch-tree!" to 
"Like a yellow water-lily." 

In his "One Hoss Shay," Holmes writes: 

"So the Deacon inquired of the village folk 
Where he could find the strongest oak, 
That couldn't be split nor bend nor broke — 
That was for spokes and floor and sills; 
The crossbars were ash, from the straightest trees; 
The panels of white- wood, that cuts like cheese, 
But lasts like iron for things like these. 



14 

James Russell Lowell says of the oak: 

"What gnarled stretch, what depth of shade is his 

There needs no crown to mark the forest's king. 
How in his leaves outshines full summer's bliss! 

Sun, storm, rain, dew, to him their tribute bring. 
How towers he, too, amid the billowed snows, 

An unequalled exile from the summer's throne. 
Whose plain uncinctured front more kingly shows, 

Now that the obscuring courtier leaves are flown. 

Class 

Song, "Come to the Old Oak Tree," from Franklin 
Square Song Collection. 

Twenty-sixth pupil 

It was once thought that the pine supply of Maine was 
inexhaustible, and that the same thing was true of the 
Adirondacks. Just before the war it was said that the 
timber in Michigan would last forever. In 1866, Schuy- 
ler Colfax said there never would be an end to the pine 
in the far West and Northwest. A report from the 
Forestry Bureau says we have now enough timber to last 
only a few years. 

In the case of the Pennsylvania railroad alone, five 
million railroad ties have to be procured annually. In 
order to be sure of this supply, the company has been 
forced to do its own planting. It proposes to set out two 
million, two hundred fifty thousand red oak, Scotch pine, 
chestnut, locust, and catalpa trees. This will cover about 
a thousand acres of land. The Scotch pine and red oak 



15 

trees will not be large enough to cut for thirty or forty 
years. 



Twenty-seventh pupil 

Large numbers of fir trees are cut every year and used 
for Christmas trees. American buyers have found it is 
much cheaper to get their trees from Canada than from 
Maine. The cutting this year reached larger propor- 
tions than ever before. Almost every village had its 
small bands of men who cut trees in the woods and sold 
them to the agents. Some of the dealers at the railroad 
stations had orders for twenty-five thousand trees. In 
New Brunswick alone, over one hundred fifty thousand 
trees were sold. 

Twenty-eighth pupil 

Districts which have been cleared are not so warm as 
before wood was cut, and this has caused a failure in the 
crops. In northern Illinois, the peach crops were seriously 
injured. Winter wheat was killed in open fields but saved 
where it was protected. 

To prevent loss and unnecessary destruction of trees, 
the government has taken the matter in hand and has 
urged all persons to exercise the greatest care and watch- 
fulness. 

To this end, Arbor Day has been established. On 
this day, which is generally the last Saturday in April, 
many new trees are set out and we are brought to realize 
the great benefits which come to us from the forests. 



i6 

Twenty-ninth pupil 

Did you ever stop to think of the many ways in which 
we use the wood after the trees are cut down ? 

We must have fuel, houses, furniture, vessels, cars, 
wagons, toys, tools, and numerous other things. 

Lumbermen cut the trees, sawmills buzz, buzz, buzz, 
cutting the trees into boards and then the carpenter 
hammers, saws, and planes to make the many, many 
things which we really need. 

Class 

Song, "The Carpenter," from Songs and Music of 
FroebePs Mother Play. 

Thirtieth pupil 

Lucy Larcom says: 

"He who plants a tree, 
He plants love; 

Tents of coolness spreading out above 
Wayfarers he may not live to see. 
Gifts that grow are best; 
Hands that bless are blest; 
Plant; Life does the rest! 
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree, 
And its work its own reward shall be." 

Thirty-first pupil 

Holmes says: 

"When we plant a tree we are doing what we can to 
make our planet a more wholesome and happier dwelling 



place for those who come after us, if not for ourselves. 
As you drop the seed, as you plant the sapling, your left 
.hand hardly knows what your right hand is doing. But 
Nature knows, and in due time the power that sees and 
works in secret will reward you openly." 

Class 

Song, "America." 



Among the Trees 

An Arbor Day Program 

Arranged by Blanchard F. Hicks 

(Scenery — The back curtain may be white, or sky blue, or of 
cheese-cloth covered with wall paper having a woods effect. Ar- 
range a back row of small trees or shrubs, and a front row (or semi- 
circle), leaving an open space between the rows. Use scantling to 
fasten the bottom of the trees to the floor, and fine wire to steady the 
tops. Use trees without lower branches for the middle trees in the 
front row. Cover the floor with pine needles, leaves, dry moss, 
lawn mowings, etc. A row of small bushes in front will help. For 
early spring use, have the leafless trees the least prominent, and the 
evergreen trees, vines, etc., the most prominent. 

Instead of ''The Beautiful Woods" and "The Brave Old Oak," 
any other appropriate songs may be given.) 

I. The Talking Trees 

(A child standing behind or near each tree recites the 
selection jor /he tree.) 
All 

Song, ''The Beautiful Woods." 

The Talking Trees 
Pine 

To tell my name, behold I'm here, 
And speak the first in line, 

i8 



19 

My green plumes waving in the breeze, 
A tall and stately pine. 

And I tell of constancy. In my sweet voice 
I whisper of hope till sad mortals rejoice. 

Beech 

So high, they seem to touch the sky, 
My spreading branches reach, 

From mossy woods and bosky dells, 
I come to you — the beech. 

And I, with my branches wide-spreading and low. 
Awake in your heart hospitality's glow. 

Elm 

I am the Elm. On sunny slopes 

My graceful form is seen. 
Or, like a sentinel, I stand 

In meadows fair and green. 

The elm teaches you to be pliant yet true. 
Though bowed by rude winds, it still rises anew. 

Maple 

In groves, on hillsides, fields, and plains 

My form you'll often see. 
Or standing by your happy homes, 

A goodly maple tree. 



20 



You should learn from the maple, that beauty, to win 
The love of all hearts, must have sweetness within. 



Birch 



My home is on the mountain side, 

There, like a bird, I perch, 
And, like a silver column, gleams 

My trunk — I'm the white birch. 

And I in my wrappings of silvery gray 

Show that beauty needs not to make gorgeous display. 

Fir 

A stately balsam fir am I, 

With healing in my breath; 
From mountain and from forest dim 

I come to vanquish Death. 

From the rough, rocky hills where I grew in scant soil 
I come to reveal how you'll win by hard toil. 



Cedar 



In mossy swamps and ferny bogs 

My form you'll often see; 
From there I come to you to-day, 

A Christmas cedar tree. 

We firm-rooted cedars, like sentries of old. 
Show that virtues deep-rooted may also be bold. 



21 



Oak 



I come, a tall and sturdy oak, 

Whose praises poets sing, 
And eager children seek to find 

The treasures that I bring. 

You are taught by the oak to be rugged and strong 
In defense of the right ; in defiance of wrong. 

— Adapted from The Talking Birds, Lizzie M. Hadley, 
and What the Trees Teach Us, Helen O. Hoyt 
{Rhode Island Arbor Day Manual, 1906) 

(In the above stanzas other trees may often be substituted.) 

All 

Song, "The Brave Old Osik.'' — Franklin Square 
Collection, No. 2. 

II. The Children's Visit 

(All enter singing) 

The Grand Old Trees 

(Tune — "There's Music in the Air") 

We love the grand old trees, 
With the oak, their royal king, 

And the maple, forest queen, 
We to her homage bring. 

And the elm with stately form. 

Long withstanding wind and storm, 



22 

Pine, low whispering to the breeze, 
O we love the grand old trees! 

We love the grand old trees — 

The cedar bright above the snow, 
The poplar straight and tall, 

And the willow weeping low. 
Butternut and walnut, too. 
Hickory so staunch and true, 
Basswood blooming for the bees, 
O we love the grand old trees! 

We love the grand old trees — 

The tulip branching broad and high, 
The beech with shining robe, 

And the birch so sweet and shy. 
Aged chestnuts, fair to see. 
Holly bright with Christmas glee. 
Laurel crown for victories, 
O we love the grand old trees! 

— Journal oj Education 

Choosing the Tree 

(Leader recites) 

Come, happy children, with footsteps light, 

To the cool green woods this way! 
Let us choose a tree that is young and strong 

To plant on Arbor Day. 

Shall it be the beech with its folded leaves 
And its trunk so rough and brown? 



23 

Or the maple whose crimson blossoms burn, 
While softly drifting down ? 

Here is the chestnut that turns to gold 

When the summer days are dead, 
And here the oak that then shall wear 

A robe of russet red. 

Here are the linden's pointed buds. 

And the sweet gum's spicy smell, 
And the graceful elm whose drooping boughs 

The bluebirds love so well. 

The silver birch, like a white clad ghost, 

'Mid the other trees is seen; 
And the wild plum drops her blossoms now. 

To open leaves of green. 

Which shall it be, oh, children dear ? 

We may choose whate'er we will. 
For a hundred others as fair as these 

Are left in the forest still. 
— Angelina W. Wray (Rhode Island Manual, 1902) 

First pupil 

I speak for the elm. It is a noble tree. It has the shape 
of a Greek vase and such rich foliage running down the 
trunk to the very roots, as if a vine were wreathed about 
it. 



24 

Second pupil 

My favorite is the maple. What a splendid cupola of 
leaves it builds up into the sky. And in the autumn its 
crimson is so rich, one might call it the blush of the woods. 

Third pupil 

The birch is the tree for me. How like a shaft of 
ivory it gleams in the daylight woods! How the moon- 
light turns it into pearl! 

Fourth pupil 

What a tree is the oak! First a tiny needle, rising 
toward the sun, a wreath of green to endure for ages. 
The child gathers the violet at its foot; as a boy, he 
pockets the acorns; as a man, he looks at its towering 
heights and makes it the emblem of his ambition. 

Fifth pupil 

The oak may be the king of the lowlands, but the pine 
is the king of the hills. There he lifts his haughty head 
like a warrior, and when he is aroused to meet storm, 
the battle cry he sends down the wind is heard above all 
the voices of the greenwood. 

— Selections {Rhode Island Manual ^ 1906) 

Leader (giving a reason for a certain choice) 
Shall we choose that this year? 

Chorus 

Yes. 



25 

(March off singing) 

An Ode for Arbor Day 

(Tune — " Ring the bells of Heaven "— Gospel Hymn) 

Raise a song of gladness on this festal day, 

Which shall be a forest symphony, 
Chiming with the music of melodious May, 

Sung in honor of each growing tree. 

Chorus 

Happy, happy with the joys of spring, 
Gayly, gayly, our delights we sing. 
Children blest of Heaven, who so glad as we, 
Pealing forth the anthem of the free ? 

Maker of each glory of our native land, 
May each form of beauty which we see, 

In the pleasant meadow and the forest grand, 
Lift our souls to higher thoughts of Thee. 

Chorus 
— Parr Harlow (Rhode Island Manual^ 1900) 

III. Recitation During the Planting 

A strong, fair shoot from the forest bring, 
Gently the roots in the soft earth lay; 

God bless with His sunshine, and wind, and rain 
The tree we are planting on Arbor Day. 



26 



May it greenly grow for a hundred years, 
And our children's children around it play, 

Gather the fruit and rest in the shade 
Of the tree we are planting on Arbor Day. 

So may our lives be an upward growth, 

In wisdom's soil every rootlet lay; 
May every tree bear some precious fruit, 

Like the tree we plant on Arbor Day. 

— Arbor Day Manual 



A Song for Arbor Day 

Tune — " America " 

Strike deep thy rootlets down, 
Spread forth thy leafy crown, 

Make fair this place, 
Richly by nature blest. 
Shelter the song-bird's nest. 
Shadow the traveler's rest. 

With airy grace. 

Upright as truth, O tree. 
Wide-spread as charity, 

Rooted in love. 
Though skies be blue or gray. 
Reach farther day by day, 
Bare boughs or leaves of May 

Ever above. 



27 

When hands that turn this soil 
Rest from life's care and toil, 

Let thy leaves fall; 
Russet, or red, or gold, 
Covering the barren mold 
With beauty fold on fold ; 

Heaven over all. 
— Martha J. Hawkins (Rhode Island Manual , 1904) 



A Tale of an Ancient Wood 

Alice E. x\llen 

The characters chosen for this Arbor Day Play are as follows: 
Cherry — the Wild Cherry Tree. 
Aladdin — with his sunbeam lamp. 

Babes in the Wood — Johnny- Jump-Up and Violet Blue. 
Little Men in Green (2) — Small Spruce and Pine Trees. 
Curly Locks — Alder Tree. 
Cock Robin — the Little Bird Who Told. 
Boy Blues — Willow Trees with whistles. 
Red Riding Hoods — Maple Trees with keys. 
Dryads (2) — Arbor Day'° Waiting Maids. 
Cinderella — Arbor Day. 

There should be as many Boy Blues as Red Riding Hoods — the 
number of each to depend upon the number of children taking part. 

Cinderella may be the tiniest girl of the grade or school. 

Except the shoe provided for Cinderella, no costuming is neces- 
sary, although, of course, appropriate costumes may be devised if 
desired. Use real cones, maple-keys, and whistles, if available. 
If not, toy guns, real keys, and whistles of any description may be 
substituted. Any bright little lamp or pretty lantern may be used 
for Aladdin. In the centre of stage is the orchid or lady's slipper, 
which is Cinderella's shoe. For the real orchid is substituted a small 
slipper with high heel, fluffy bow, or pretty buckle. It is hung 
tip-tilted from a small bough, and seems to be growing from the 
ground. The slipper is pale yellow and should fit Cinderella's 
foot. It must resemble, as nearly as possible, in all but size, a real 
orchid. 

Any woodsy stage decoration that suggests itself may be carried 
out in green and brown, with as many real boughs as possible. The 
children as Trees stand in pretty groups about the stage. Maples 

2& 



29 

form background; at left are the Willows, the Alder, who sits on 
the ground with Cock Robin near by; at the right the Evergreens 
and the Wild Cherry. The Babes in the Wood lie asleep on ground 
at right of centre. Cinderella is hidden among the Maples; the 
Dryads are on either side of her; Aladdin is invisible until his part 
is taken. (If desired, Cherry may try slipper on foot of Violet Blue, 
Curly Locks, and a Red Riding Hood, but without success.) 

(With a blast oj whistles from the Willows, one oj them 
comes forward and with a flourish recites the Prologue oj 
the Play.) 

Prologue 

Once on a time, in the good green wood, 

Where Trees, big, little, and middle-sized, stood, 

Queen Arbor Day, in a leaf-green gown, 

A leaf-green sash and a leaf-green crown, 

Running along through the moss and the dew 

Lost off her tiny golden shoe, 

And searching for it — little Tree-Elf — 

Straightway, she lost her own sweet self. 

Then all the Trees of the good green wood 

Fell fast asleep just where they stood, 

The flowers slept, too, and the little streams 

Murmured sometimes in their happy dreams, 

Till one glad day, in a sun-gold hour. 

That little lost shoe turned into a flower! 

And all the Trees of the forest woke 

And into music and motion broke, 

And the Cherry Tree in the moss and dew, 

Where close beside her it gaily grew. 

Spied the dainty flower like a lady's shoe. 



30 

With the lady's slipper away she went — 

To find its owner her sweet intent, 

Of the happy happenings that then befell, 

This Tale of the Ancient Wood shall tell, 

And of how at last, in a magic way. 

Under the Oak Tree where she lay, 

The Trees of the wood found Arbor Day! 

(With another shrill blast of the whistles, Willow takes 
his place among the other Trees and Cherry comes forward. 
She sees the shoe, examines it prettily , hesitates, -finally 
picks it offy and measures it to her own foot, for which it 
is too small. With it in her hand she starts out; she looks 
to right and left, she turns and retraces her steps — in fact, 
here and throughout play, make the search for Arbor Day 
as real as 7nay be. Aladdin appears at right of stage, 
carrying lamp, overtakes Cherry.) 

Cherry, Cherry, so Contrary 

{To he given by Aladdin and Cherry, with appropriate 
motions throughout.) 

Aladdin 

Cherry, Cherry, so contrary. 
How does your garden grow ? 

Cherry {showing shoe) 

With leaf-like bow and petaled toe, 
And slippers in a row. 



31 

Aladdin (examining shoe) 

Cherry, Cherry, so contrary, 
Who wears such slippers, pray? 

Cherry 

Along her way, buds open gay — 
I think 'twas Arbor Day. 

Aladdin (lighting lamp) 

Cherry, Cherry, so contrary, 
I'll light my sunbeam lamp. 

Cherry 

Dry days and damp, where fairies camp, 
To find her we will tramp. 

Aladdin 

Cherry, Cherry, so contrary. 
Should other sprites arise ? — 

Cherry (holding up shoe) 

By shape and size, this shoe so wise 
Its foot will recognize. 

(Aladdin rubs lamp and lifts it high. Hand in hand he 
and Cherry set out. As they come upon the Babes in the 
Woody Willows softly whistle air, ^ Comin^ Through the 
Rye.^^ When light of Aladdin's lamp falls over them. 
Babes wake instantly, and hand in hand spring to feet, 
courtesy and sing,) 



32 
The Babes in the Wood 

(Tune — "Comin' Through the Rye") 
(With pretty pantomime of tossing tennis balls) 

Johnny Jump Up and his sister, 

Little Violet Blue, 
Played at tennis in the forest 

All the springtime through; 
Sunbeams were their dainty rackets, 

Nets were cobwebs new, 
And their fragile balls were only 

Drops of silver dew. 

(Their heads close together, they jail asleep, singing drow- 
sily) 

Johnny Jump Up and his sister. 

When their play was done, 
Lay them down in tiny cradles 

Out of mosses spun, 
Lay them down and soon were sleeping 

In the setting sun. 
While the red leaves fell about them 

Slowly one by one. 

Trees (sing softly in sing-song, with gestures oj rocking, 
scattering leaves, etc.) 

''Rock-a-by, Baby, 

Under the trees," 
Sang the tall maples 

Stirred by the breeze, 
''Winter shall fold you 



33 



Safe where you lie, 
Till spring awakes you 
Hush — rock-a-by." 



Johnny and Violet {waking up and resuming play with 
tennis balls) 

Johnny Jump Up and his sister 

All the winter long, 
Through their dreaming heard the murmur 

Of the forest's song, 
Heard the footsteps all about them 

Of the snowflake throng, 
Then all sounds were merged in April's 

Summons, clear and strong: 

Trees (joyously) 

"Wake up, wee blossom, 
Babes of the Wood," 
Sang all the maples 
In tender mood, 
"Wake, it is morning — 
Morning and May — 
Wake, little blossoms, 
Find Arbor Day!" 

(Johnny Jump Up and Violet takes places back of Cherry 
and Aladdin; Aladdin rubs his lamp and the search is 
resumed. After a minute^ Trees hum lightly melody of 
^' Rig-a-Jig^^ (well-known college air)^ and Two Little 
Men in Green strut jauntily forward^ each with large cone 
carried as gun. They sing:) 



34 



Little Men in Green 

(Tune -"Rig-a- Jig") 

Two little men in green are we — 
{One after another touches breast and bows) 

Just look at me — and likewise me 



(As above) 



First 

Second 

Both 



All winter to be seen are we 



Just me — and likewise me. 

Chorus 

Rig-a-jig-jig, in our jaunty rig, 
I'm spruce and fine, 
I always pine, 

Rig-a-jig--jig, in our jaunty rig 
We're little men in green. 



First 

Second 

Both 



Two hunters clad in green are we — 
Just look at me — and likewise me 
Out hunting for our Queen are we - 
Just me — and likewise me. 

Chorus 

For Arbor Day in our bright array, 
So spruce and fine, 
For her I pine. 

For Arbor Day in our bright array - 
We're little men in green. 



35 



The forest's valiant sons are we — 
Just look at me — and likewise me — 
Two handy little guns have we — 
Just me — and likewise me. 

{Raising and firing guns) 

Rig-a-jig-jig, so true and trig — 
First Now, clickity, click — 

Second And bang! so quick — 

Both Rig-a-jig-jig, so true and trig — 

We're little men in green. 

{Give brisk drill with guns ij desired. At close jail in 
line behind others. Trees hum music below. Search con- 
tinues until Curly Locks is jound twining her tresses, Cock 
Robin behind her.) 

Curly Locks 



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36 

Curly Locks and Cock Robin {with humming accompani- 
ment by Trees) 

(Slur last two notes in seventh measure) 

Down beside the river 
Where the tall reeds quiver, 

All day long a fairy sits and rocks, 
Golden curls about her — 
You can scarcely doubt her 

Dainty little name is Curly Locks. 

But the breeze that searches 

Through the tall white birches, 
Told a bird and he told me, 

That this woodland fairy 

With her tresses airy, 
After all is but an Alder Tree. 

{Curly Locks and Cock Robin take places; search is 
resumed. Humming and whistling air on next page, Boy 
Blues and Red Riding Hoods trip gaily forward — two and 
two — each Boy Blue leading a Red Riding Hood. Boy Blues 
— with accompaniment of whistles — sing) 

A Tale of Little Boy Blue 

Long, long ago — or so they say — 
Boy Blue slept sound upon the hay — 

And on that morn, 

He lost his horn — 
Thus he lost his little tinkling silver horn. 



37 



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Chorus 

Tinkle, tinkle, silver horn — 
Poor Boy Blue, poor Boy Blue, 

Tinkle, tinkle, silver horn •— 
What will Boy Blue do? 



38 

So hard he wept — or so they say — 
Upon that mound of fragrant hay, 

That straightway he 

Became a tree — 
Thus he was at once a weeping willow tree. 

Chorus 

Tinkle, tinkle, silver horn — 

Poor Boy Blue, poor Boy Blue, etc. 

When now a willow bough you take, 
And out of it a whistle make, 

Sure as you're born 

'Tis Boy Blue's horn — 
Thus he finds again his tinkling silver horn. 

Chorus 

Tinkle, tinkle, silver horn — 
Glad Boy Blue, glad Boy Blue, 

Tinkle, tinkle, silver horn — 
Hark! he pipes to you! 

{Repeat chorus^ whistling air. At close Red Riding 
Hoods sing sojtly with pretty motions.) 

A Queer Little Red Riding Hood 

'Tis said once the dear little Red Riding Hood 

Stayed out in the dark of the big quiet wood, 

What straight-away happened is strange as can be — 



39 




For she was, in a twinkling, turned into a tree — 
A slim little, trim little, prim maple tree. 

The sunshine falls round her in soft golden floods, 
Her red riding hood is all cut up in buds, 
No butter she carries, but sugar — you'll see — 
Yes, and always in springtime a little gold key — 
Just her own little, slim little, prim little key. 

Oh, should you discover in some happy hour, 
Dear Arbor Day's own little leaf-shaded bower, 
If you can't get in, ask a red maple tree. 
And perhaps she will lend you her own little key — 
Just her own little, slim little, trim little key. 



40 



(Red Riding Hoods and Boy Blues fall into line — two 
and two — behind others. To music below^ Dryads dance 
lightly forward. The following song is given with suit- 
able motions and gestures to interpret words) 

The Lady's Slipper 

Charles E, Bovd 




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Dryads 

What seek you, gay folk of the wood, 
Little Boy Blue and Red Riding Hood ? 

Wood Folk 

The Queen o' the May — 
She's our own Arbor Day — 



41 



She surely must soon come this way — this way 
All She surely must soon come this way. 



Dryads 

Two jolly oak Dryads are we — 
And her little hand-maids as you see. 

Wood Folk 

In dingle or dell 

Where, oh, where does she dwell ? — 

Oh, Dryads, now please, won't you tell — do tell 

All {Dryads^ one to the other) 

Oh, Dryads, now please won't you tell? 

Dryads 

Somewhere in the wood, to her cost. 
She one pretty gold slipper has lost — 

{Revealing Arbor Day asleep) 
In this covert deep 
Where she sat down to weep, 

(Very softly, with gesture oj ^^Hush^U) 

just see — she has fallen asleep — asleep — 

All {clustering eagerly about) 

Just see — she has fallen asleep! 



42 

Wood Folk 

^ A wee lady's slipper we bear 
Surely none but a fairy could wear, 

^ Toot, merry horns, toot, 
For it fits her wee foot — 

3 'Tis Arbor Day's own little boot — her boot 
'Tis Arbor Day's own little boot! 



1 Cherry lifts slipper high. 

2 Cherry kneels down, slips slipper carefully on Arbor Day's 
foot. Aladdin, meanwhile, lifts lamp and rubs it; Boy Blues blow 
soft blast on whistles; Maples lift keys and turn them, as if in lock; 
all watch eagerly. 

3 Arbor Day awakes, springs to her feet, gazes at her feet, recog- 
nizes her lost slipper, claps hands, and with a Dryad on either side, 
leads all the others to central position for closing chorus. 



When Arbor Day Awakes 

(Tune — ''The Lorelei") 
All (with gay dance at close ij desired) 

When willows have sounded their whistles 

To wake the woodland flowers, 
When pine-cones have fired out their missiles 

And maple-keys fall in showers, 
When sunbeams light hillside and hollow. 

When robin his silence breaks, 
And all of the wood voices follow — 

Then Arbor Day awakes. 



43 

When everywhere buds are a-quiver, 

When alder wakes from her dream 
And bends o'er the edge of the river 

To see herself in the stream, 
When, out of an orchard soft yellow, 

For Arbor Day, April makes 
A slipper — 'twould fit Cinderella 

Then Arbor Day awakes! 



Mother Nature's Arbor Day 

Grace B. Faxon 

A tall girl is chosen to represent Mother Nature. She may be 
dressed in a long, clinging gown of green or brown cambric with cap 
of the same on flowing hair. 

{Mother Nature takes center oj platform. Children enter 
in two files and march down right and left of platform. 
They close at back centre of platform^ forming a semi-circle. 
Each child carries a small branch. They sing as they 
file in.) 

Arbor Day Hymn 

(Tune — ''Hold the Fort") 

Friends and parents gather with us, 

In our school to-day, 
Thoughts of groves and tangled wildwoods, 

In our minds hold sway. 

Chorus 

Let us try to save the forests, 

Clothing hill and dale; 
Revel in the spicy fragrance 

That their depths exhale. 

Lofty firs and murmuring pine trees 
Shading mountain's crest, 

44 



45 

Are the growths of weary ages, 
For them we protest. 

Chorus 

Spare these trees, O thoughtless woodman, 

Hew but what you need; 
They give balms to vagrant breezes, 

For their lives we plead. 

Giant oaks in sunny pastures 

Cast their pleasant shade; 
Maples clad in gold and crimson 

Cheer the darkened glade. 

Chorus 

Spare these trees, O thoughtless woodman, 

Hew but what you need; 
They give shade and brilliant beauty. 

For their lives we plead. 

Heralded in leafy banners, 

Seasons four we greet; 
Every bough a sacred temple 

For the song-birds sweet. 

Chorus 

Beauty, balms and shade they give us. 

Spare our forests fair! 
Cut and cull with thought and wisdom. 

Other's wastes repair. 



46 

Let each one who gathers with us, 

See in treelets small, 
Shade and song and fairest landscape 

Rise at Future's call. 

Chorus 

Spare the trees and guard the treelets, 

Lest our fair land be 
In the future shorn of beauty, 

Robbed of every tree. 

Mother Nature 

Well, children, I am glad you have responded so quickly 
to my call. Your faces all look bright as if this day meant 
much to you. 

Children (in chorus) 
It does. Mother Nature. 

Mother Nature 

But I called upon you because I wanted you to plant 
another tree for me. Did you all forget to bring the tree ? 

Ah, this is sad 1 

Children (in chorus) 

Here it comes, Mother Nature. 

(Enter boy carrying a small tree which may be placed 
in a tub or pail. He sets it at the jeet oj Mother Nature 
and takes his place in semi-circle.) 



47 

Mother Nature 

Bless your hearts! This is indeed a tree. You have 
chosen well Before we have our planting let us talk 
about the good this tree may bring to us and others, for 
''What do we plant when we plant the tree?" 

Children 

We plant the houses for you and me, 
We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors, 
We plant the studding, the laths, the doors, 
The beams and siding, all parts that be; 
We plant the house when we plant the tree. 

What do we plant when we plant the tree? 
A thousand things that we daily see. 
We plant the spire that out-towers the crag, 
We plant the staff for our country's flag. 
We plant the shade, from the hot sun free; 
We plant all these when we plant the tree. 

Mother Nature 
Yes, "we plant all these when we plant the tree." 

First pupil 

He who plants a tree 
Plants a joy; 

Plants a comfort that will never cloy. 
Every day a fresh reality, 
Beautiful and strong, 



48 

To whose shelter throng 
Creatures blithe with song. 

— Lucy Larcom 
Second pupil 

Summer or winter, day or night, 
The woods are ever a new delight. 

— Stoddard 
Third pupil 

He who plants a tree. 
He plants love; 
Tents of coolness spreading out above 
Wayfarers he may not live to see. 

Fourth pupil 

If thou art worn and hard beset 

With sorrows, that thou would'st forget; 

If thou would'st read a lesson, that will keep 

Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep. 

Go to the woods and hills! No tears 

Dim the sweet look that Nature wears. 

— Longfellow 
Fifth pupil 

Give fools their gold; give knaves their power; 

Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; 
Who sows a field, or trains a flower, 
Or plants a tree, is more than all. 

— /. G. Whittier 
Sixth pupil 

The blue-bird chants from the elm's long branches 
A hymn to welcome the budding year; 



49 

The south wind wanders from field to forest, 
And softly whispers, "The spring is here." 

— W. C. Bryant 
Seventh pupil 

Among the beautiful pictures 

That hang on memory's wall. 
Is one of a dim old forest. 
That seemeth best of all. 

— Alice Cary 
Eighth pupil 

A song to the old oak! — the brave old oak! 

Who hath ruled in the greenwood long. 
Here's health and renown to his broad, green crown, 
And his fifty arms so strong. 

— Chorley 
Ninth pupil 

The happy hearts that meet to-day 
In loving band, are drawn more near 

By the loving end that crowns our work. 
Planting trees for a future year. 

— Wright 
Tenth pupil 

The groves were God's first temples. 

— Bryant 
Eleventh pupil 

Time is never wasted listening to the trees; 
If to heaven as grandly we arose as these, 
Holding to each other half the kindly grace 
Haply we were worthier of our human place. 

— Lucy Larcom 



5° 

Twelfth pupil 

As the leaves of trees are said to absorb all noxious 
qualities of the air, and to breathe forth a purer atmo- 
sphere, so it seems to me as if they drew from us all sor- 
did and angry passions, and breathed forth peace and 
philanthropy. 

— Washington Irving 
Thirteenth pupil 

In fact there's nothing that keeps its youth 
So far as I know, but a tree and truth. 

— O. W. Holmes 
Fourteenth pupil 

In June 'tis good to be beneath a tree. 
While the blithe season comforts every sense; 
Steeps all the brain in rest, and heals the heart, 
Brimming it o'er with sweetness unawares. 
Fragrant and silent as that rosy snow 
Wherewith the pitying apple tree fills up 
And tenderly lines some last year's robin's nest. 

— Lowell 
Fifteenth pupil 

Arbor Day is for the study of Nature, and for assist- 
ing Nature in pleasing mankind. As you plant a tree or 
a flower remember that you are likewise planting a thought 
in your life, which will become fragrant and fruitful if it 
be planted in good soil. — Frank J. Browne 

Sixteenth pupil 

Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees 
Rocked in the cradle of the western breeze. 

— Cowper 



51 

Seventeenth pupil 

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 

There is a rapture in the lonely shore, 
There is a society where none intrudes, 
By the deep sea, and music in its roar; 
I love not man the less, but nature more. 

— Byron 

Eighteenth pupil 

And this one life, exempt from public haunt, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, 
Sermons in stones and good in everything. 

— Shakespeare 

Nineteenth pupil 

Gifts that grow are best. 

Hands that bless are blest; 

Plant : Life does the rest ! 
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree, 
And his work its own reward shall be. 

Twentieth pupil 

''A tree," says Pope, "is a nobler object than a king 
in his coronation robes." 

Twenty-first pupil 

Come, let us plant the apple tree; 

Cleave the tough greensward with the spade: 

Wide let its hollow bed be made; 

There gently lay the roots, and there 

Sift the dark mold with kindly care, 

And press it o'er them tenderly — 



52 

As round the sleeping infant's feet 
We softly fold the cradle sheet, 
So plant we the apple tree. 

— W. C. Bryant 

(Children^ taking hold oj hands, circle around Mother 
Nature and tree, singing.) 

(Tune — "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean") 

The tree we are planting on this day 

Is chosen with tenderest care; 
May beauty adorn it hereafter, 

And clothe it with usefulness rare. 
May green leaves appearing each springtime 

Be leaves of the fair book of fame. 
And spread to the breezes the story, 

Extolling the new-given name. 

The tree is an emblem of greatness, 

As, springing from one tiny seed. 
It mounts ever upward and onward, 

An emblem of greatness, indeed! 
The birds sing its praises to others, 

The winds carry swiftly the tale. 
The tree is the monarch of forest, 

Of hill, valley, greenwood and dale. 

Chorus Recitation 

(With motions) 

' Nature's children, beautiful trees! 
'Whose branches bow to the gentle breeze; 



53 

3 Maple, beech, oak, and elm, 

4 In every country, in every realm; 

5 In lonely valley, on mountain side, 

6 They tower aloft in stately pride, 

7 In pasture, meadow, and forest dell, 

8 Dear old landmarks! we love them well. 

9 Where would the birds build their curious nests, 
" Humming-bird, oriole, robin red-breast ? 

Away from the school-boy's eyes so keen, 
" Safe in the tree-top's leafy screen. 
" How could we build our houses grand, 

If trees grew not in every land ? 
*3 Our beautiful trees, stately and tall. 

Must help to build school- house, church and hall. 

1. Hands clasped over head. 

2. Sway body forward and back. 

3. Point right, palm down. 

4. Arms at fullest length out from shoulder, palm down. 

5. Right hand out, palm down, level with waist-line; gradually 
ascend. 

6. High oblique. 

7. Coming slowly down to waist level. 

8. Keep right hand at front; bring left to chest. 

9. Turn right hand over, so palm is up. 

10. Point right. 

11. Point high. 

12. Bring hand down, turn palm up. 

13. Clasp hands over head. 

Mother Nature 

Come, children, we must not delay longer. Let us go 
at once to the place we have selected for our tree, and 
carefully plant it. 



54 

{Children jail into two lines. A hoy takes the tree and 
he and Mother Nature walk last. All sing the following 
song, the first verse being sung before starting and the 
last off the platform, the voices gradually growing fainter.) 

The Planting of the Tree 

(Tune — " Auld Lang Syne") 

In soil the dearest and the best 

On which the sun can shine, 
We plant thee, tree, in hope to-day, 

Oh, let our cause be thine! 
Strike down thy roots, wax wide and tall, 

That all this truth may know. 
Thou art our type of future power; 

Like thee, we, too, shall grow. 

Chorus 

Like thee, we, too, shall grow. 

Like thee, we, too, shall grow; 

Thou art our type of future power, 

Like thee, we, too, shall grow. 

In coming years their kindly shade 

The sons of toil shall bless; 
Thy beauty and thy grace shall all 

With grateful voice confess; 
And so our youth, in wisdom trained. 

Shall render service great; 
Our schools send sons and daughters forth, 

The glory of the state. 



55 

Chorus 

The glory of the state, 
The glory of the state; 
Our schools send sons and daughters forth 
The glor>' of the state. 

Strike deep thy roots, wax wide and tall, 

Since thou our pledge shall be 
Of all the good we vow to bring 

Our country grand and free. 
In place of one by axe or age 

Cut off, long may'st thou stand; 
We march to take our fathers' room, 

And do the work they planned. 

Chorus 

And do the work they planned, 

And do the work they planned ; 

We march to take our fathers' room. 

And do the work they planned. 

— Sarah J. Underwood 



Choosing the Tree 

Lizzie M. Hadley 

(One child may sit — or stand — near the center and 
several girls at the left front of the stage, with the same 
number of boys at the right.) 

(Boys and girls sing) 

(Tune — "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean") 

The earth from its sleep is awaking, 

The meadows are slow greening o'er, 
The birds joyous music are making, 

For springtime is coming once more. 
All bleakly the winds have been blowing, 

But winter must soon bid adieu. 
The ice and the frost now are going. 

And springtime is hastening to you. 

(Repeat last two lines) 

O, now while the south winds are blowing, 

While birds sing and loud hum the bees, 
Forget that it ever was snowing. 

And come plant with us the green trees. 
Then softly the raindrops shall patter 

The tender green leaflets to lave. 
The bright drops above them they'll scatter, 

O, long may their green branches wave. 

56 



57 

Child in center of stage 

Whence do they come, those fair green trees, 
That sway and swing in the summer breeze? 

Girls 

God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the fruit tree 
yielding fruit after its kind." 

Boys 

Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every 
tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. 

School 

. Aye, the Father looked on us from above, 
And sent the trees. They are tokens of love. 

Child in center 

They are fair to see, but I'd like to know 
What they can do, but grow and grow. 

Boys 

The tree of the field is man's life. 
Girls 

The trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord. 

School 

Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence 
of the Lord. 

All 

If the trees shall sing, then in prayer and praise 
Let us to the Lord our voices raise. 



58 

f (Tune — "America") 

' Father in heav'n above, 

Look on us now in love, 

To Thee we pray. 
Hear as to Thee we call, 
And may Thy blessing fall 
On us Thy children all, 

This Arbor Day. 

Child in center 

What is this Arbor Day of which you sing? 

School 

Each year when <-he spring sunshine is awakening 
Nature from her winter's sleep, we meet to plant in field, 
orchard and garden the trees for shelter, food and beauty. 

Boys 

What shall we plant in the wilderness? 
What shall we plant for the Lord to bless? 

School 

Plant in the wilderness the cedar . . . and the 
oil-tree. 

Girh 

On the desert under the burning sky. 
What shall we plant where the hot sands lie ? 

School 

Set in the desert the fir tree and the pine and the box to- 
gether. 



Boys 



59 



For God's own temple, so vast and dim, 
What shall we plant to honor him? 



School 

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree 
and the pine and the box together to beautify the place 
of my sanctuary. 

All 

Yes, we'll plant them ev'ry one 

In the field and wilderness, 
In the wastes and deserts drear, 
Plant them for the Lord to bless. 

{Music outside) 

Hark! a sound of sweetest music 

Faintly falls upon my ear, 
And with trees like banners waving, 

Merry children now^ appear. 

{Enter eight children. Each one carries a branch from 
a tree. They march around the stage and arrange them- 
selves in jront oj child in center. Each child may carry 
a letter to spell Arbor Day.) 

Song 

We are coming, coming, coming, 
Don't you hear our happy song? 

We are coming, coming, coming, 
Now, a joyous happy throng. 



6o 

For the sky is bright above us, 
Round us springtime zephyrs play, 

And the green trees whisper welcome. 
Welcome, welcome, Arbor Day. 

{Spoken) 

Line after line we are drawing near. 
Lads and lassies so fair to see. 

Rank after rank we are marching here, 

To choose for ourselves some fair green tree. 

O, little lads and lasses gay. 

What is your choice for Arbor Day? 

First child 

Sharer of our country's glory, 
Famous e'er in song and story, 
Tall and graceful, fair and free, 
Here's the stately elm for me. 
I will choose the elm. 

{Holds up branch oj elm,) 

Girls 

History bids us keep in remembrance Penn's ''Treaty 
Elm" in Philadelphia, the Washington Elm in Cambridge, 
and the Liberty Elm in Boston. 

Second child 

You may search the country far and wide 

For many a forest tree, 
But the sturdy oak, O the brave old oak, 



6i 

Is ever the one for me. 
I will choose the oak. 
{Holds up branch of oak.) 

Boys 

In the pages of history we read of the Charter Oak of 
Connecticut, of "Fox's Oak" on Long Island, and the 
"Royal Oak" in England. 

Third child 

Willow standing beside the brook 

Where rippling waters all seaward flow, 
Laving your roots as they hurry by, 
Never a fairer tree I know. 
I will choose the willow. 

(Holds up branch of willow.) 

Fourth child 

When the birds of summer have southward flown. 
And the winds of autumn are blowing cold. 

The maples put off their gowns of green. 
And don their garments of red and gold. 
I will choose the maple. 

(Holds up maple.) 

Fifth child 

Just on the edge of the marshy bog. 

Or down by the side of the rushing river, 
Fairest of trees the poplar stands. 



62 

With its green and silvery leaves a-quiver. 
I will choose the poplar. 
{Holds up poplar.) 

Sixth child 

When the ground is white 
And the days are drear, 
The pine tree murmurs 
Good cheer, good cheer! 
I will choose the pine. 

{Holds up pine.) 

Seventh child 

Out in the woods is the fair beech tree. 
With its pretty brown nuts for the squirrels and mt. 
I will choose the beech. 
{Holds up beech.) 

All 

We have chosen our trees and our task is done, 
Upon Arbor Day we will plant each one. 

School 

Wisely you've chosen each fair green tree, 

May they grow and flourish for aye. 
And, O, may you plant as each year goes by, 

A tree upon Arbor Day. 

Boys and Girls 

And, now, e'er you pass from our sight away, 
Tell to us something you've heard or read, 



63 

Tell of the waving forest trees 

Something the poets have sung or said. 

Children representing Arbor Day 

We'll do your bidding and tell to you, 
These words of the poets so wise and true. 

First child 

Friendship is a sheltering tree. 

— Coleridge 
Second child 

I hear the wind among the trees 
Play celestial harmonies. 

— Longjellow 
Third child 

The groves were God's first temples. 

— Bryant 
Fourth child 

Summer or winter, day or night. 
The woods are ever new delight. 

— Stoddard 
Fifth child 

In fact there's nothing that keeps its youth 
So far as I know, but a tree and truth. 

— Holmes 
Sixth child 

He who plants a tree, 
He plants love; 
Tents of coolness spreading out above 
Wayfarers we may not live to see. 

— Lucy Larcom 



64 

Seventh child 

Living or dying I'll take my ease, 
Under the trees, under the trees. 

— R, H. Stoddard 

The Little Leaf 

(Recitation) 

Once, 'tis said, the parent branches 

Heard a little leaflet cry. 
For the winds had slyly whispered, 

"Some day you must die, must die." 

Laughed and rustled then the branches, 

"Little one, O, never mind, 
You won't go till you are ready. 

So don't heed the chattering wind." 

All through summer days of gladness 
Tightly to the boughs it clung, 

While the birds and bees around it 
In the sunshine buzzed and sung. 

But when autumn days grew chilly. 
And its green had changed to gold. 

Once again the wind came whispering. 
And it gladly loosed its hold. 

How it danced and whirled and floated, 
Until tired out with play. 



65 

Close beside the sleeping daisies, 
Snugly it was tucked away. 

There beneath the snows of winter, 

Now the little leaflet lay, 
And, the pretty story tells us, 

It is sleeping there to-day. 

All on the stage 

That is well, and now together, 

One and all, we'll march away. 

And within the fields and gardens 

Plant our trees this Arbor Day. 

{They march around the stage singing) 

(Tune — "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush") 
Now let us marching go, marching go, marching go, 

Now let us marching go 

To plant the greenwood tree. 

Deep down within the mold, in the mold, in the mold. 
Deep down within the mold. 
We'll plant the greenwood tree. 

Send now the rain and dew, rain and dew, rain and dew. 
Send down the sunshine, too, 
On this our woodland tree. 

And may Thy blessing fall, blessing fall, blessing fall. 
Father, upon us all, 
While here we plant our tree. 



Voices of the Trees 

Annie Chase 
The Invitation 

(Tune: "John Brown") 

Hark, don't you hear us callings put your books and slates 

away, 
Don't you see our branches beckoning? We have some- 
thing we would say, 
For the winter now is over, and no snow-drifts block the 
way; 

Come learn of us to-day; 
Listen, children, we are calling, 
Listen, children, we are calling. 
Listen, children, we are calling, 
Come learn of us to-day. 

First pupil 

I am the elm tree; I love best to bend 

Above some country lane, where cattle wend 

Their homeward way. I dearly love to fill 

Some spot upon the hot and sunny hill 

With cool and shadow; love to stand 

Beside the wall between the meadow land 

And upland reaches, where the golden-rod 

Nods all day long; and where the crickets sing; 

And where the meadow grass is whispering 

66 



6/ 

With dainty wreaths I love my trunk to twine; 

To rock the oriole's nestlings and to call them mine. 

Second pupil 

The elms of Old England are not as graceful as ours; 
still they have a quaint beauty of their own. Their queer, 
gnarled trunks, so tough-grained and heavy, are used in 
making water-troughs, water-wheels or anything of the 
kind that must be exposed to damp. In the dock yards 
the wood is used for keels, blocks, and the planking of 
boats, and for whatever part of the boat is most exposed 
to water. 

Third pupil 
I am the oak tree, made for strength. 
E'en as the elm for gracefulness. I stretch 
My giant arms aloft and never quail 
In torrent or in tempest. Did you mind 
How long in springtime I held back my leaves? 
It was to give them strength; now autumn's here 
And all the trees are naked; I stand forth 
Bedecked with robes of purple; it is meet 
I should be clothed thus, for I am king. 
I love you, children, love to have you twine 
Long garlands of my leaves and deck yourselves; 
Or hunt for acorns underneath my boughs. 
Come often, come, and visit me, and I will make 
You wise, and strong, and brave, and beautiful. 

Fourth pupil 

Wonderful as is the oak for strength and beauty it is 
vet more wonderful in its uses. The soldier must have 



68 

the oak for his weapons, often for the fortifications he 
defends; for the axle wheels of his wagons that must 
bring to him all the necessaries of war. The gun powder, 
too, if of the best kind, is made from the burnt branches 
of this same tree. Add to this its uses in ship- building, in 
furniture making, in polished floors for the homes of rich 
lords and ladies and we still have only a feeble idea of its 
value. Then, too, there is the supply of cork from its 
bark, and of acids from its nutgalls, so useful to tanners, 
dyers and photographers. 

Song 

(Tune: ''Over the River") 

What tree brings the children the first news of spring? 

Oh! 'tis the willow, the willow. 
Where do the early birds love best to sing? 

Oh! on the willow, the willow. 

Down where the bridge spans the river so fair. 

Oh! see the willow, the willow; 
What makes the perfume that's filling the air? 

Oh! 'tis the willow, the willow. 

Fifth pupil 

And what boy could spare us or exist if living in the 
country, without the score of whistles, whips and pop- 
guns he can manufacture from our wood with that pre- 
cious knife of his ? But we have other and still better uses ; 
we are made into gunstocks, harrows, rakes, shoemaker's 
lasts, painter's charcoal, all kinds of basket work and 



69 

scores of other things. When next you use your cricket 
bat or tennis racquet, boys and girls, stop and examine 
them a moment and see if you do not cry out, "Why 
here is another present from our old friend, the willow!" 

Sixth pupil 

Keeping the willow company, in the swamps and by 
the streams, are the alders and birches. Did you ever 
think, boys, when you have climbed some lithe, supple 
birch and have had such a fine swing there, that Indian 
lads have done the same thing and that the white bark 
was once used by the Indians who wrote upon it in their 
strange way as you write upon paper? and did you 
know the bark of the black birch which tastes so sweet 
to you was made by them into strong canoes? 

Seventh pupil 

I am the timid poplar, I quail at every breeze; 

I tremble and quiver and shiver long ere the other trees 

Have dreamed the wind is coming; 

Whenever clouds cover the sun 
You can hear the "pat, pat" of my pale, pale leaves 

Entreating them to be gone. 
Am I sad, do you ask, little children, 

That the dear God made me so? 
Now the breeze is quiet a moment 

I can answer you bravely — no. 
Mother Nature has made a fine music 

Tuned alone to my sensitive ear; 
'Tis so sweet I am often wishing 

That other trees might hear. 



7b 

Eighth pupil 

The smooth, clean looking, white wood of the poplar 
is easily cut into almost any shape and is often made into 
light casks, butter tubs, and in vineyards into the different 
vessels used in carrying about the grapes. 

Ninth pupil 

The lime, a kind of tree quite common in England, 
gives us keyboards for our musical instruments. Num- 
bers of the same kind grow in Canada, but the wood is 
softer and is used for sleds, cradles, and light carriages. 

Tenth pupil 

Ho! children, don't forget me, the walnut; for I give 
you walnuts and pickles. The old Poet says my 

"Timber is for various uses good; 
The carver she supplies with useful wood; 
She makes the painter's fading colors last, 
A table she affords and a repast: 
E'en while we feast, her oil our lamp supplies, 
The rankest poison by her virtues dies." 

Eleventh pupil 

Don't forget the ash either, growing here and there in 
our own country, but more plentifully in England. There 
its strong light timbers are made into the handles of 
farming tools and light ladders while the carriage builders 
could hardly do without it for poles of omnibuses, cabs, 
etc. 



71 

Twelfth pupil 

I am the beech tree; I have made my home 
Hard by the forest lake; when breezes come 
I dip my sweeping branches lower down 
And dangle 'mong the rushes; scatter queer 
Three-cornered nuts upon the white sand here 
And in the boat drawn up beneath my shade. 

Thirteenth pupil 

(Let the pupil tell about the maple in his own words 
not forgetting, of course, the sugar maple.) 

Number of pupils 

We're the junipers and cedars; we love best to stand 

High up in rocky pastures ; where, on every hand 

The thorny barberry grows and hangs in fall 

Long rows of corals out, 

Where wild rooks call 

And call and answer one another. 

Fourteenth pupil 

At least all the country boys know that cedars and 
junipers make capital fence posts, besides furnishing us 
with many light articles such as pencil cases, penholders, 
etc. 

Fifteenth pupil 
This pupil reads a composition on fruit trees. 



72 

Song 

(Tune: ''Life on the Ocean Wave") 
Number oj pupils 

O pine trees in the grove 

Forever murmuring, 

O say what does it mean 

The grand slow song you sing? 

Tell us now, just now, 

We long so much to know 

Why through the summer days 

You're always sighing so. 

Sixteenth pupil 

But the pines make us no answer, so we will pass on to 
their uses. When we think about it, shall we not give 
the pine tree the first place in the rank of usefulness? 
Think of the loads of timber it gives us for ship and house 
building, besides hundreds of smaller things we could 
not do without. (If the pupil draws a line upon the map 
through the middle of Norway and the north of Scotland, 
across to North America and down through North Amer- 
ica just below the Great Lakes he will form an idea of 
the pine regions.) 

All 

Oh sturdy oaks and hemlocks, larches and all the others, 
Are you not sad that you must fall, you and your noble 
brothers ? 

Many voices 

Whether we stand 
Upon some mountain top and answer back 



73 

The ocean's thunderings: whether we dwell 

Down in the quiet valley where we rock 

The wee wild birds to sleep, and shade the kine: 

Whether we stand within the forest with a host of friends; 

Or singly on the plains; whether we grow 

By country homestead or in city squares 

Where men need comforting; — we are content; 

Content because we live not for ourselves 

But just to make the sad world better 

And to praise our God. We live for Him 

And if it he His will the axe should strike our hearts ^ 

That we should jail, be stripped oj all our treasures 

And be wrought to jorms of usefulness, we die for Hiniy 

Contented still. 



With the Trees 

Olive E. Dana 
First pupil 

Life's lessons bid us bide its worth, 
With all its fruitage bound in toil; 
Trust God, and trust the generous soil 
Of human hearts as trusting earth. 

So here we set this little seed. 

And trust ito tender boughs to time; 

To grow to touch the stars sublime; 

As grows and grows some small good deed. 

Set deep where lilies ever nod, 
Walled round by everlasting snows, 
To grow as some great, strong soul grows 
When growing upward to its God. 

— Joaquin Miller 
Second pupil 

When we plant a tree, we arc doing what we can to 
make our planet a more wholesome and happier dwelling- 
place for those who come after us, if not for ourselves. 
As you drop the seed, as you plant the sapling, your left 
hand hardly knows what your right hand is doing. But 
Nature knows, and in due time the Power that sees and 
works in secret will reward you openly. 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes 

74 



?5 

Third pupil 

He who plants a tree, 

Plants a joy; 

Plants a comfort that will never cloy; 

Every day a fresh reality, 

Beautiful and strong, 

To whose shelter throng 

Creatures blithe with song, 

If thou couldst but know, thou happy tree. 

Of the bliss that shall inhabit thee? 

— Lucy Larcom 
Fourth pupil 

What are these maples and beeches and birches but 
odes and idyls and madrigals ? What are these pines and 
firs and spruces but holy hymns, too solemn for the many- 
hued raiment of their gay, deciduous neighbors? 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Fifth pupil 

Neither are trees, as seen in winter, destitute of their 
own peculiar beauty. If it be a gorgeous study in summer 
time to watch the play of their abundant foliage, we still 
may thank winter for laying bare before us the grand 
and beautiful anatomy of the tree, with all its interlacing 
net-work of boughs, knotted on each twig with the buds 
of next year's promise. 

— Harriet Beecher Stowe 
Sixth pupil 

It has been found that forests exert an appreciable 
influence in *'the equalization and conservation of the 
rainfall," that they have a favorable effect upon climate; 



76 

and that they are one of nature's own agencies for pre- 
serving the natural fertility of the soil. 

Seventh pupil 

There are said to be nearly seventy occupations, as 
enumerated by the United States census, requiring wood 
as material, wholly or partially, beside the enormous 
quantities annually used by the railroads and the tele- 
graph companies. It is said that the '^progress of a na- 
tion may be measured to a large extent by its consump- 
tion of wood." We have our part to do in replenishing 
these fast-diminishing stores. 

Eighth pupil 

The forest area still remaining in this country is very 
great. If the estimates of the department are approxi- 
mately correct, the timber lands of the country, exclusive 
of Alaska, cover an area equal to fifteen States the size 
of Pennsylvania. If proper measures are taken to pre- 
vent the rapid and unnecessary destruction of what is 
left of our forest domain, it should be equal to all reason- 
able requirements for an indefinite period. With the 
adoption of a policy of judicious tree planting, the evil 
effects which have followed denudation in Europe and 
some portions of Asia would never exist here. 

Ninth pupil 

It was to protect the forests still standing, to repair 
the constant decimation of waste and use, and to restore 
the former beauty to some desolated tracts, that societies 



77 

have been organized and conferences held, and, as a more 
effectual agency, Arbor Day was instituted. Its origina- 
tor was J. Sterling Morton, Ex-Governor of Nebraska. 

Tenth pupil 

The day was first kept in Nebraska, in April, 1872. 
Kansas next adopted the day, and the example of these 
pioneer states w^as speedily followed by others, until it is 
now recognized as an established national institution. 
On that day, or on the dates appointed by the governors 
of the several states, the willing hands of the children 
may render a service, which shall be a lasting benefaction 
to home and native land. 

Eleventh pupil 

He who plants a tree, 
He plants love; 
Tents of coolness spreading out above 
Wayfarers he may not live to see. 
Gifts that grow are best; 
Hands that bless are blest; 
Plant! Life does the rest! 
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree, 
And his work its own reward shall be. 

— Lucy Larcom 
Twelfth pupil 

Tree-planting is fitted to give a needful lesson of fore- 
thought to the juvenile mind. Living only in the present 
and for the present, too often youth will sow only where 
they can quickly reap. A meagre crop soon in hand, 



78 

outweighs a golden harvest long in maturing. Youth 
should learn to forecast the future as the condition of 
wisdom. Arboriculture is a discipline in foresight, it is 
always planting for the future and sometimes for the dis- 
tant future. — B. G. Northrup 

Thirteenth pupil 

What plant we in the apple-tree ? 
Sweets for a hundred flowery springs, 
To load the May- wind's restless wings 
When, from the orchard row, he pours 
Its fragrance through our open doors. 
A world of blossoms for the bee. 
Flowers for the sick girl's silent room, 
For the glad infant sprigs of bloom. 
We plant in the apple-tree. 

Fourteenth pupil 

The fruitage of this apple-tree, 
Winds and our flags of stripes and stars 
Shall bear to coasts that lie afar. 
Where men shall wonder at the view 
And ask in what fair groves they grew; 
And sojourners beyond the sea 
Shall think of childhood's careless day. 
And long, long hours of summer play. 
In the shade of the apple-tree. 

— William Cullen Bryant 

Fifteenth pupil 

Said Sir Walter Scott: ''I advise all young men to 

plant trees." And again, of his magnificent estate of 



79 

Abbotsford, which he had planned and adorned with 
thousands of trees of his own planting: — "My heart 
clings to this place I have created. There is scarce a tree 
in it, which does not owe its being to me. Once well 
planted, a tree will grow when you are sleeping, and it is 
almost the only thing that needs no tending." 

Sixteenth pupil 

Washington Irving planted many trees at Sunnyside- 
on-the-Hudson. Daniel Webster did the same at his 
country home in Marshfield. Mr. Gladstone finds one of 
his chief pleasures in his woodlands. Oliver Wendell 
Holmes declares that his best poems are the trees he has 
planted on the hillside which overlooks the broad mead- 
ows, scalloped and rounded at their edges by the sinuous 
Housatonic. 

Seventeenth pupil 

Washington Irving says: "There is something nobly 
simple and pure in such a taste for trees. It argues a 
sweet and generous nature to have this strong friendship 
for the hardy and glorious sons of the forest. There is 
a serene majesty in woodland scenery that enters into the 
soul, dilates and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclina- 
tions. There is a grandeur of thought, connected with 
this heroic line of husbandry. It is worthy of liberal 
and free-born and aspiring men. He who plants an oak, 
looks forward to future ages and plants for posterity." 

Eighteenth pupil 

John Greenleaf Whittier says: "The wealth, beauty, 



8o 

fertility, and healthfulness of the country, largely depends 
upon the conservation of our forests and the planting 
of trees." John Burroughs, writing of English woods, 
says, ours ''have a certain beauty and purity unknown in 
England; certain delicacy and sweetness, and charm of 
unsophisticated nature, that are native to our forests." 

Nineteenth pupil 

Henry Thoreau said: **The intellect of most men is 
barren. It is the movings of the soul with nature, that 
makes the intellect fruitful, that gives birth to imagina- 
tion." 

Twentieth pupil 

Time is never wasted, listening to the trees; 
If to heaven as grandly we arose as these; 
Holding toward each other half their kindly grace 
Haply we were worthier of our human place. 

Every tree gives answer to some different mood ; 
This one helps you climbing; that for rest is good; 
Beckoning friends, companions, sentinels afar. 
Good to live and die with, good to greet afar. 

— Lucy Larcom 

Twenty-first pupil 

Wild as the vales he scorned to till. 

Those vales the idle Indian trod. 
Nor knew the the glad, creative skill. 

The joy of him who toils with God. 



8i 



O painter of the fruits and flowers! 

We thank thee for thy wise design, 
Whereby those human hands of ours 

In nature's garden work with thine. 

Give fools their gold, give knaves their power; 

Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; 
Who sows a field, or trains a flower, 

Or plants a tree, is more than all. 

For he who blesses most is blest; 

And God and man shall own his worth, 
Who toils to leave as his bequest. 

An added beauty to the earth. 

— J. G. Whitiier 



An Arbor Day Exercise 

Emily F. Bass 

Have the exhibition room a bower of greenery and fragrance. 
With only a few suggestions from the teacher the children will do it 
very satisfactorily by themselves. Use the evergreens, and those 
only of the deciduous trees which do not wither readily. 



Class 



Song 
(Tune: "Comin' Through the Rye") 

Now the springtime sun is shining 

On the fields, I ween; 
Veiled in misty robes of greenness, 

All the trees are seen. 
And we merry lads and lassies. 

Now have come this way, 
So let us help you all to keep 

This happy Arbor Day. 

Let us plant for future years 

Now the spreading trees, 
Birds shall build their nests within them, 

Rocked by every breeze. 
Little children, too, shall bless us. 

In the coming years, • 

And every face shall wear a smile 

When Arbor Day appears. 

82 



83 
Scriptural Texts about Trees 

(For three boys and three girls) 
First pupil 

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is 
my beloved among the sons. I sat under his shadow with 
great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 

— Songs oj Solomon, ii., 3 

Second pupil 

She heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress 
and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the 
trees of the forest; he planteth an ash and the rain doth 
nourish it. 

— Isaiah, xliv., 14 
Third pupil 

The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of 
Lebanon which he hath planted. 

— Psalms, CIV., 16 
Fourth pupil 

They burn incense upon the hills under oaks and 
poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good. 

— Hosea, iv., 13 

Fif.h pupil 

And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called 
thereon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. 

— Genesis, xxi., ^^ 

Sixth pupil 

And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which 
were in their hand, and all their ear-rings which were 



84 

in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was 
by Shechem. — Genesis, xxxv., 4 

Class (recite in concert) 

If thou art worn and hard beset 

With sorrows, that thou would'st forget, 

If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep 

Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep. 

Go to the woods and hills! No tears 

Dim the sweet look that Nature wears 

— Longfellow 

Why We Plant Trees 
(A boy reads or recites) 

Before the Secretary of Agriculture, Hon. J. Sterling 
Morton of Nebraska, thought of setting apart a day of 
every year for the planting of trees, there was such a wide- 
spread, thoughtless destruction of them in our land that 
the time would have come when we should have had to 
import our timber from foreign lands. 

April twenty-second, Mr. Morton's birthday, is the day 
now generally observed by most of our states for tree- 
planting. 

Regard for the rights of others, a generous spirit of 
benevolence to man and beast and a reverence for trees 
should be the direct results of the observance of this very 
important Arbor Day. Let us remember that forests 
affect the climate of a country, that they influence the rain- 
fall, that they build up a wall and protect the farmer's 
crops, that they keep the air pure, and that the leaf-mold 
in forests holds back the rains and gives refreshing springs 
instead of floods. 



85 
A Group of Trees 

(For five children, each having a spray of the tree they represent) 
First pupil 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his "The Wonderful One- 
Hoss Shay," says of me — 

"The hubs of logs from the * Settler's ellum,' 
Last of its timber — they couldn't sell 'em, 
Never an axe had seen their chips. 
And the wedges flew from between their lips, 
Their blunt ends frizzled like celery-tips." 

The elms are an ancient race and always beautiful, 
strong, and graceful. From the wonderful twisting and 
interlacing of our fibres, our wood is of exceeding tough- 
ness. Some of us have become historic. For example, 
the Washington Elm in Cambridge (Mass.), beneath 
whose shade our own General Washington first drew his 
sword on taking command of the American army. And 
in Philadelphia a marble column to-day marks the spot 
where the famous elm stood, underneath which William 
Penn made his treaty with the Indians. 

Second pupil 

I get my name from a Latin word meaning "to beat," 
because the axes of the Roman lictors, which were always 
made of birch rods, were used to drive back the people. 

Coleridge calls me 

"Most beautiful of forest trees — the Lady of the 
Woods." 



S6 

Our lustrous, creamy white bark is the joy and pride of 
every woodsman, whether he be tourist, guide, or hunter. 
To us he looks for his canoe, the roof of his cabin, and his 
dinner service. Seven hundred years before Christ, the 
thin papery layers into which my bark may be separated, 
were used to write upon. 

Third pupil 

In the springtime you see me slender and delicate, 
clothed in a misty, rosy sheen of buds and opening leaves. 
I am one of a large family — the maples. One of our 
family, the sycamore maple, has the distinction of being 
the tree into which Zaccheus climbed in order that he 
might better see Jesus as he passed by. And it was in the 
shade of this tree that Joseph and Mary rested during their 
flight into Egypt. 

Fourth pupil 

Just why I, the willow, should be the emblem of de- 
spairing love, I cannot tell, but Shakespeare says: 

''In such a night 
Stood Dido, with a willow in her hand, 
Upon the wild sea banks, and waved her love 
To come again to Carthage." 

And in Psalms, cxxxvii., we read: ''By the waters of 
Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered 
thee, O Zion! As for our harps we hanged them up 
upon the willow trees that are therein." 

The most famous of our family now grows upon the site 
of Napoleon's grave at St. Helena. 



8? 

Fifth pupil 

I belong to the family of which Longfellow writes: 

"The murmuring pine and the hemlocks, 
Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct 

in the twilight, 
Stand like Druids of eld with voices sad and prophetic; 
Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their 
bosoms." 

The world finds its most important trees in our family. 
Our close-grained wood is used for lumber, shingles, 
cabinet- making, interior of houses, masts and spars of 
vessels. In damp, close, northern woods, tufts of gray 
moss are found abundantly on the trunks of all the pines, 
hence Mr. Longfellow's "bearded with moss." The In- 
dians gather this moss by the bushel. It is a warm, soft 
substance, and with it the Indian babies are packed for 
transportation on their cradle boards. It is like linen to the 
tender flesh — soft, resinous, aseptic, porous, and health- 
ful, and we can imagine the small, brown baby wrapped 
in moss, as well off physically as our babies clothed in 
flannel and linen. 

These five children then sing 

(Tune: ''Tramp, Tramp, Tramp") 

"Plant, plant, plant, the trees are ready! 
Elm, birch, maple, willow, pine; 

Underneath the April sky. 

While the friendly winds go by; 
We will plant and trust the sun and rain." 



88 

** Plant, plant, plant, the seeds are ready! 
Elm, birch, maple, willow, pine; 

Deep down in the mellow ground. 
By our watch care fended round; 
We will plant and leave to sun and rain." 

The Pine Tree Story 

(To be read) 

In that very strange and far-off land of Kamchatka, 
there lived a very poor family. There were father, mother, 
and four children. 

In the best of weather and the best times it was hard to 
live, but when a grain famine was on the land, when the 
fish swam in other waters, and worst of all, cold and snowy 
weather came, the entire family would have perished 
from hunger and cold had it not been for one thing. That 
thing gave them food, fuel, and clothing. That thing 
was a bunch of pine trees near their poor little hut. The 
father and two boys chopped down the trees. The trunk 
and branches furnished them wood to burn and boards 
to patch the worn places in the weak little house. They 
ate the sweet oily nuts which they got from the cones. 
Pressing out the oil it served as a medicine. The little 
girls pulled the fibres from the leaves. With these their 
mother wove cloth and made it into garments. Then 
their flour gave out, but the pine trees still were their 
friends. The tender, sweet, inner bark was stripped 
from the trunks. Between two stones they ground it 
into flour. Thus the pines kept this poor family through 
the winter, until the land could give them bread and the 



89 

river meat. How thankful these people were to the 
great Giver of the pine trees, though He was all unknown 
to them. 

The Oak in Literature 

(For four children) 
First pupil 

The oak is the most majestic of forest trees. It has 
been represented as holding the same rank among the 
plants of temperate zones that the lion does among the 
quadrupeds, and the eagle among birds; that is to say 
it is the emblem of grandeur, strength, and duration; 
of force that resists, as a lion is of force that acts. 

— London 

Second pupil 

Jove's own tree 

That holds the woods in awful sovereignty. 

— Virgil 

Third pupil 

It seems idolatry with some excuse 
When our forefather Druids in their oaks 
Imagined sanctity. — Cowper 

Fourth pupil 
What gnarled stretch, what depth of shade is his! 

There needs no crown to mark the forest's king. 
How in his leaves outshines full summer's bliss! 

Sun, storm, rain, dew, to him their tribute bring. 

— Lowell 



90 

Children sing 

(Tune: " Auld Lang Syne ") 

''Then let us go with spade and hoc 

And plant our tree so strong; 
The robin's nest shall safely rest 

Upon it's boughs ere long; 
And 'neath its bower the modest flower 

Will bloom in fragrance sweet, 
While summer weaves with moss and leaves 

A carpet for her feet." 

{Adjourn to the yard where tree is planted. It adds 
greatly to the interest ij the tree is named for a noted author 
or prominent person in the community. Children now 
stand in circle around their tree and recite in concert) 

''Through all the year some ministry they bring, 
To birds that fly and every creeping thing; 

And man, earth's lord, 
Before the trees should bow in sweet accord — 
In 'God's first temples' walk with reverent care, 
All sights, all sounds invite the soul to prayer. 

Thank God for trees." 



Historic Trees 

Charter Oak 

Place: Hartford, Connecticut. 

Time: 1687. 

Characters: Six colonists and Governors Treat and Andros. 

Costumes of Colonists: Colonial styles, large drab felt hats, 
drab capes, shoe buckles, broad white collars, belts. One or two may 
wear spectacles, carry a cane, and one or two carry guns. 

Scene I 

{Colonists all are seated about a table strewn with books, 
papers, ink, etc.) 

{Enter Governor Treat.) Am I late, my friends? 

First Colonist O no, but what news, Governor Treat ? 

Governor Treat Our Royal Governor, Andros, has ar- 
rived om England. He has landed in Boston. 

Second Colonist I feared this, but ah, I distrust him, 
I distrust him. We have been so prosperous I do fear 
him greatly. 

Third Colonist Think you we shall be obliged to sur- 
render this liberal charter of ours to the cown? 

Fourth Colonist {Bringing fist down upon table.) We 
will argue and expostulate but never yield, never {another 
blow on the table), but we will not resort to action until the 
time for action is fully come." 

Enter messenger {in riding habit, whip in hand.) 

91 



92 

Here is a letter to Governor Treat from Sir Edmund 
Andros, Governor of Nev^ England. 

Governor Treat steps forward, takes letter (old-jash- 
ioned seal) saying: 'Wait outside, boy." Messenger 
hows and retires. Governor Treat opens letter and reads 
aloud: 

"To Robert Treat, 

Governor oj Connecticut. 

I am commanded and authorized by his majesty, at 
my arrival in these parts, to receive in his name, the sur- 
render of your charter, if tendered by you, and to take 
you into my present care and charge, as other parts of 
the government, assuring his Majesty's good subjects 
of his countenance and protection in all things relating 
to his service and their vi^elfare. 

Edmund Andros, 

Governor oj New England.''^ 

{Governor Treat lays letter upon table.) Gentlemen, 
what action shall we take? 

Fijth Colonist I move you, we leave it with the Gov- 
ernor and Council to take good care to do what is requisite 
to be done in reference to affairs in England and the last 
quo warranto. 

Sixth Colonist I second the motion. 

Governor Treat It is moved and seconded we leave 
this matter with the Governor and Council; all those in 
favor of this motion please manifest by the usual sign; 
contrary minded? It is a vote. 



93 

First Colonist I move you we prepare an answer to 
this message from Governor Andros. 

Second Colonist In our old charter are all our cherished 
political and ecclesiastical institutions. Even the titles 
of individuals to their lands and houses. 

Shall all these rights be swept away ? I say No. Shall 
every foot of soil become the personal property of the 
King of England ? Again I say, no, gentlemen, no. 

Third Colonist Our charter is extraordinary. It has 
given us unqualified power to govern ourselves. We 
have been allowed to elect all our officers, to enact our 
own laws, to administer justice without appeals to Eng- 
land, to inflict punishments, to confer pardons, and to 
exercise every power. In a word, we are independent 
except in name. We have long been the happiest State 
in the world. Shall we give this up? No; gentlemen. 

Governor Treat Shall a letter similar to this be sent 
to Governor Andros? {Takes up paper and reads.) 

"We are his Majesty's loyal subjects and we are heartily 
desirous that we may continue in the same station that we 
are in, if it may consist with his princely wisdom to con- 
tinue us so. 

But if his Majesty's royal purposes be otherwise to 
dispose of us, we shall as in duty bound, submit to his 
royal commands; and if it be to conjoin us with other 
colonies and provinces, under Sir Edmund Andros, his 
Majesty's present Governor, it will be more pleasing than 
to be joined with other Provinces." 

Third Colonist I move you, this letter be sent. 
Fourth Colonist Second the motion. 



94 

Governor Treat Moved and seconded this letter be 
sent. 

The meeting is now adjourned. 

[Exeunt] 
Scene II 

(Governor Andros enters arrayed in lace, velvet, gold 
buckles, and regalia. He walks slowly across the stage, 
hack and forth, saying): 

"My sixty soldiers are with me, but everything seems 
in profound doubt and distress. I have demanded their 
charter. They tell me how dear it is to them, it gives 
them so many rights and privileges, and that it is impossi- 
ble to give it up. I have watched that charter with long- 
ing eyes from the banks of the Hudson, and I have no in- 
tention of giving up my object now that the King of Eng- 
land has put me in power in Connecticut." 

[Exeunt] 
Scene III 

Evening. (Colonists and Governors) Tables, and can- 
dles lighted. 

Enter Governor Andros, who is waited upon by the 
Governor, Deputy Governor, and assistants. He is con- 
ducted to the Governor's seat. 

Governor Treat turns to others (who have entered) say- 
ing: 

His Excellency has declared that his Majesty has given 
him a commission to be publicly read. 

First Colonist (aside) We must resist openly or make 
a formal surrender of our charter. 



95 

Andros I come to demand the surrender of your 
charter. Bring forth the document that I may see it. 

Governor Treat (turning to Colonist 3) Well, I order 
you to bring in the precious document. 

(Third Colonist exit; re-enters with roll) The docu- 
ment is here before your eyes, Governor Andros. (Lays 
charter down upon the table.) 

Andros adjusts his spectacles and is about to reach forth 
jor the charter. (Two men suddenly blow out the candles.) 
Captain Wadsworth seizes the charter and runs away swiftly 
and noiselessly. 

Governor Andros Light your candles, quick! quick! 

Fourth Colonist Well! well! I will presently, after 
scraping the tinder. 

(Fourth Colonist lights candles.) 

Andros Now where is the charter? 

(All look. Great consternation.) 

First Colonist Our charter is not here, Governor 
Andros, and we know not where it is; therefore we have 
none to surrender. 

Second Colonist As a colony we are no longer able to 
comply with your demand for a surrender. 

Third Colonist Ah, you are now responsible to the 
King for whatever you do. 

(Governor Andros rises , bows low, unfolds a long paper 
and reads) 

"His Excellency, Sir Edmund Andros, Knight, Cap- 
tain-General, and Governor of his Majesty's Territory 



96 

and Dominion in New England, by order from his Maj- 
esty, James the Second, King of England, Scotland, and 
Ireland, the 31st of October, 1687, took into his hands 
the government of this Colony of Connecticut, it being 
by his Majesty annexed to the Massachusetts and other 
Colonies under his Excellency's government." 

[Exeunt 

The Charter Oak 

I sing of that old Charter Oak, 

Wind-swayed, in stately pride 
Its strong arms stretching broad and green, 

Its shade cast far and wide. 
In days of old, one autumn's eve, 

With swift but noiseless step. 
The charter in this tree was thrust, 

Yet the oak its secret kept. 

No man saw and but one knew. 

In the gloom that autumn night. 
That the fathers of Connecticut 

Had hid from Andros' sight 
Their precious, guarded document — 

That government so free — 
They'd ne'er give up; their hearts were firm 

As the roots of that brave old tree. 

And the years passed on; another ruled, 

And Andros from them fled; 
Their hidden charter, all intact. 

Revived as from the dead. 



97 

Forth from the oak it then was drawn. 

This liberal charter, as before, 
Brought peace and plenty, love and joy, 

And liberty once more. 

Penn's Treaty Elm 

Place: Shackamaxon, near Philadelphia. 

Time: 1682. 

Characters: William Penn, Indian Chief, ten Indians — male 
and female. 

Costumes: William Penn should be dressed in the costume of 
Charles the Second's reign — large felt hat, drab coat, buckles, 
and a sash of bright blue silk about the waist. The Indian Chief 
should wear a large blanket of brown or buff trimmed with gay 
bands and a fringe about the bottom; leggins with a fringe down 
the outside edge, moccasins, head-dress made of a long stiff band 
with long stiff feathers hanging from it. Bright pieces of tin 
hang about in front. Face painted red and black. The other 
Indians should wear blankets of various colors, feathers, beads, 
bangles, weapons, porcupine quills, bits of fur skins, necklaces, 
bells, tin disks, etc. 

On the stage should be a large tree, or the play may be given out- 
doors under an elm tree which the school plant. 

The ten Indians march in singing {very sojtly at first 
and gradually increasing in tone); a drum, with muffled 
sticks marks the time. They all chant the jollowing weird 
and famous Indian song in its strange minor key. This 
is sung over several times, as they march faster and faster, 
singing louder and louder, and the Indians bending low, 
dance around, one after another, in a circle. 

''Ina he ku ye misunkala 
Ceya omaniye-e. Ina he kuye. 
Ate he lo. Ate he lo." 



98 



ii-dt. 







JJJJU 'J J ^^ 



Translated "Here come my mother, my younger 
brother is walking. Here come my mother. Here is 
the father, here is the father." 

Suddenly all hut the chief stopy sit down in a circle and 
gaze fixedly at William Penn, who enters, holding in one 
hand, a large roll of parchment. The Indian Chief stands 
in front, facing Penn, with arms folded. 

Penn comes forward, greeting all, and standing by the 
chief^s side says: 

We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good 
will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all 
shall be openness and love. I will not call you children, 
for parents sometimes chide their children too severely! 
nor brothers only, for brothers differ. The friendship 
between me and you I will not compare to a chain, for 
that the rains might rust or the falling tree might break. 



99 

We are the same as if one man's body were to be divided 
into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood. 

Penn proceeds to give to them strings oj beads, ornaments, 
etc. The Indians all nod and gaze pleasantly upon Penn, 
admiring their presents. 

The Indian Chiej then steps forward, grasps Penn^s 
hand, saying: ''We will live in love with William Penn 
and his children as long as the sun, moon, and stars shall 
endure." 

The chiej then presents Penn with a great belt of wam- 
pum, and others give fur skins and feathers. 

The muffled drum now sounds again. The Indians 
rise and sing once more the song: 

"Ate he ye lo, canupaware 
Ci ci ca hu pi ca yani pi kta lo. 
Ate he ye lo. x\te he ye lo." 



h 



a 



jjJ 4 , Ij J/ JlOj jl 




iUi-"^-^ 



JJ ' JJz^ ' J^H ^M^ 



lOO 



Translated: "This the father said, he brings the pipe 
for you, and you will live. This the father said, this the 
father said." 



Penn's Treaty 

(This should be read or recited by some pupil) 

This treaty of peace and friendship was made under a 
wide-spreading elm, with the open sky above, the waters 
of the Delaware flowing past, with only the sun, the river, 
and the great forest beyond for witnesses. 

It was not confirmed by an oath, nor ratified by signa- 
tures and seals; no written record of the conference can 
be found and its terms and conditions had no abiding 
place but in the heart, where they were written like the 
law of God, and were never forgotten. 

The simple sons of the wilderness, returning to their 
wigwams, kept the history of the covenant by strings of 
wampum and afterwards in their cabins would count over 
the shells on a piece of bark, and recall to their own mem- 
ory, and repeat to their children the words of William 
Penn. 

(The following should be recited by some pupil) 

"Thou'lt find," said the Quaker, "in me and mine, 
But friends and brothers in thee and thine, 
Who abuse no power and admit no line, 

'Twixt the red man and the white." 
And bright was the spot where the Quaker came 



lOI 



To leave his hat, his drab, and his name. 
That will sweetly sound from the trump of Fame 
Till its final blast shall die. 

The old "Treaty Tree" was for years an object of 
veneration. Benjamin West commemorated the scene 
in a beautiful painting. 

The tree was protected with great care, but during a 
gale in March, 1810, it fell. Its consecutive rings proved 
it to be 283 years of age. The wood of the tree was con- 
verted by art into a great variety of forms. The Penn 
Society erected a monument upon its site with appropriate 
inscriptions. 

After the tree had fallen. Judge Peters, the esteemed 
personal friend of Washington, wrote : 

''Let each take a relic from that hallowed tree. 
Which, like Penn, whom it shaded, immortal shall be; 
As the pride of our forests let elms be renowned, 
For the justly prized virtues with which they abound. 



Though Time has devoted our tree to decay, 
The sage lessons it witnessed survive to our day; 
May our trustworthy statesmen when called to the helm. 
Ne'er forget the wise treaty held under the £/m." 



102 



Washington Elm 
Scene I 

Samuel Adams enters, sits at a table, opens a notey saying: 

This is a letter from Joseph Warren. (He reads it 
partly aloud, at length he reads clearly) I hope the 
continent will take command of the army by appointing 
a generalissimo. {Adams jolds the letter saying) 

Ah! the generalissimo whom Joseph Warren, Gerry, 
and others desire is George Washington. 

{Enter Messenger.) Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, 
have landed in Boston. British re- enforcements are 
arriving and other parts of the continent are threatened 
with war. {Exit.) 

Adams Well our Virginian is acknowledged to sur- 
pass all his countrymen in military capacity and skill. 
Yes, Washington is a man, above all others, fitted for that 
station and best able to promote our cause. 



Scene II 
Time: June i6, 1775. 
Place: Philadelphia. 

Characters: John Hancock, George Washington, and Congress- 
men, all dressed in colonial costumes. 

John Hancock rises, saying 

George Washington is unanimously elected Comman- 
der-in-Chief of the Continental forces raised or to be 
raised for the defense of American liberty. 

Applatise, vigorous and loud, is given by the congress- 



I03 

men and Washington slowly rises, bows, and replies to 
the honor in the well-known speech: 
Mr. President, Gentlemen: 

Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done 
me by this appointment, yet I feel great distress from 
a consciousness that my abilities and military experience 
are not equal to the arduous trust. But, as the Congress 
desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert 
every power I possess in their service, and for the sup- 
port of the glorious cause. 

But I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman 
in the room, that I this day declare, with the utmost 
sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I 
am honored with. I beg you will accept my cordial thanks 
for this high testimony of your approbation. 

Drill and Tableau 

Washington Taking Command of the American Army 

Enter ten soldiers of the revolutionary days, each carries 
a musket, drums beat, the captain orders his men into line, 
steps in front of them and gives the commands. 

Attention! Each soldier stands erect, eyes straight 
ahead, muskets in position. 

Order Arms! Rest ends of muskets on the floor. 

Carry Arms! Piece raised vertically with right hand, 
grasp it at the same time with the left, above the right. 
Drop the left hand to the side. 



I04 

Order Arms! Advance the musket, grasp it with the 
left hand, lower it, re-grasp it with the right hand and rest 
the piece gently upon the floor. 

Present Arms! With the right hand, carry the piece 
out in front of body, grasping it at the same time with the 
left hand, forearm horizontal, and resting against the 
body. 

Right shoulder Arms! Raise the piece vertically with 
the right hand, grasp it with the left, raise it, take butt of 
piece in right hand, raise the piece on right shoulder, in- 
cline it to the left. Drop left hand to the side. 

Carry Arms! 

Attention! 

Forward! March! 

Piano and drum sound: "Hail Columbia." The little 
company march in a circle. Halt! 

{Ij not sufficiently long repeat the commands.) 

At the final "Halt" the line draws up at one side. The 
screen is removed opposite and there stands General 
George Washington. Above him is suspended the Con- 
tinental flag bearing the scarlet and white bars from the 
Washington arms, thirteen in number for the thirteen 
colonies, and in the Union the red cross of England, and 
of Scotland, of St. George and St. Andrew, forming the 
Union Jack of Great Britain. 

Washington is dressed in the costume of the period with 
the sword at his side. 



I05 

This, he draws, and if possible, red lights are thrown 
while a pupil steps forward and recites these lines from 
James Russell Lowell's "Under the Washington Elm": 

"Never to see a nation born 

Hath been given to mortal man 
Unless to those who on that summer mom 

Gazed silent when the great Virginian 
Unsheathed his sword, whose fatal flash 
Shot union through the incoherent clash 
Of our loose atoms, crystallizing them 
Around a single will's unpliant stem. 
And making purpose of emotion rash. 

Here was the doom fixed; here is marked the date 
When this new world awoke to man's estate." 

[Curtain] 



Arbor Day with the Trees 
and Flowers 

M. A. Bryant 

The Trees 

Song 

(Tune — " America") 

Joy for the sturdy trees! 
Fanned by each fragrant breeze, 

Lovely they stand! 
The song birds o'er them thrill, 
They shade each tinkling rill, 
They crown each swelling hill, 

Lowly or grand. 

Plant them by stream or way. 
Plant them where children play, 

And toilers rest; 
In every verdant vale. 
On every sunny swale. 
Whether to grow or fail — 

God knoweth best. 

io6 



I07 

God will his blessing send — 
All things on Him depend. 

His loving care 
Clings to each leaf and flower 
Like ivy to its tower. 
His presence and His power 

Are everywhere. 

— S. F. Smith 

Responsive Exercise 

First pupil 

A tree never grew to be a tree in a single night ; first it 
was a seed, then a tender sprout, then a weak sapling, 
and at last a strong tree. So will your minds grow if you 
have patience to train them properly. — Beecher 

Second pupil 

We thank thee, 

For flowers that bloom about our feet ; 
For tender grass so fresh, so sweet; 
For song of bird, for hum of bee; 
For all things fair we hear and see. 

Third pupil 

The ancient Druids never performed a religious cere- 
mony without oak branches or leaves in their hands. 
They held their services and had their schools in dark 
woods and groves. They believed the mistletoe on the 
oak was sacred, and they called it All-heal. They gathered 
this with great ceremony. A priest in white surplice cut 
it off with a gold pruning knife. 



io8 

Fourth pupil 

With what a lavish hand 

God beautifies the earth; 
When everywhere — o'er all the land, 

Sweet flowers are peeping forth. 

Fijth pupil 

Children, thank God for these great trees, 
That fan the land at every breeze, 
Whose drooping branches form cool bowers, 
Where you can spend the summer hours. 
For these, thank God. 

Sixth pupil 

For fragrant sweets of blossoms bright, 
Whose beauty gives us such delight; 
For the soft grass beneath your feet, 
For new mown hay and clover sweet — 
For all, thank God. 

Seventh pupil 

The people of ancient Greece believed that in every tree 
dwelt a protecting nymph or dryad. These dryads were 
thought to perish with the trees with which they had come 
into existence. To wilfully destroy a tree was, therefore, 
an impious act, and was often severely punished. 

Eighth pupil 

Flowers are the sweetest things that God ever made, 
and forgot to put a soul into. — Beecher 



I09 

Ninth pupil 

There is something nobly simple and pure in the taste 
for the cultivation of forest trees. It argues, I think, a 
sweet and generous nature to have this strong relish for 
the beauties of vegetation and this friendship for the 
hardy and glorious sons of the forest. He who plants a 
tree looks forward to future ages, and plants for posterity. 
Nothing could be less selfish than this. — Irving 

Tenth pupil 

Flowers, leaves, and fruit are the air-woven children of 
light. 

Eleventh pupil 

Jock, when ye hae nothing else to do, ye may be stick- 
ing in a tree; it will be growing, Jock, when ye're sleep- 
ing. — Highland Laird oj Scotland 

Twelfth pupil 

What a desolate place would be the world without 
flowers! It would be a face without a smile, a feast with- 
out a welcome. — Mrs. Balfour 

Thirteenth pupil 

When we plant a tree, we are doing what we can to 
make our planet a more wholesome and happier dwell- 
ing place for those who come after us, if not for ourselves. 
As you drop the seed, as you plant the sapl'.ng, your left 
hand will hardly know what your right hand is doing. 



no 



But nature knows, and in due time the Power that sees 
and works in secret will reward you openly. 

— O. W. Holmes 

Fourteenth pupil 

'Tis my faith that every flower 
Enjoys the air it breathes. 

— Wordsworth 

Fijteenth pupil 

Plant trees, plant trees on Arbor Day, 
Along the shadeless, dusty way; 
Who plants a tree shall surely be 
A blessing to humanity. 

Sixteenth pupil 

Flowers scattered unrestrained 

O'er hill and dale and woodland sod; 
That man where'er he walks may see 
In every step the hand of God. 



Reed 



Seventeenth pupil 

Come, let us plant a tree, 
Tenderly and lovingly 

Some heart to cheer. 
Long may its branches sway, 
Shelter sweet birds alway, 
Long may its blossoms say, 

"Springtide is here." 



Ill 

Eighteenth pupil 

Blessed be God for flowers! 
For the bright, gentle, holy thoughts that breathe 
From out their odorous beauty, like a wreath 
Of sunshine on life's hours. 

— Tinsley 

Nineteenth pupil 

A tree is a deposit in the Bank of Nature which she 
repays in the future a thousand fold. 

Twentieth pupil 

Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as 
men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad 
expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again 
are plain, honest, and upright, like the broad-faced sun- 
flower, and the hollyhock. — Beecher 

Twenty-first pupil 

Trees are silent sentinels that never desert their post, 
till death or violence calls or drives them away. 

— Carleton 

Twenty- second pupil 

It never rains roses; when we want to have more roses, 
we must plant more trees. — Eliot 

Twenty-third pupil 

Love of trees and plants is safe. You do not run risk 
in your affections. They are like children, silent and 



112 

beautiful, untouched by any passion, unpolluted by evil 
tempers. — Alex. Smith 

Twenty- fourth pupil 

Springtime is coming! search for the flowers! 

Brush off the brown leaves, the darlings are here! 
Joy of the spring hours, picking the Mayflowers! 

Kiss the spring beauties, the babes of the year. 



Twenty-fifth pupil 

O happy trees, which we plant to-day, 
What great good fortune waits you! 

For you will grow in sun and snow 
Till fruit and flowers freight you. 

Twenty-sixth pupil 

There is no spot on earth that may not be made more 
beautiful by flowers. 

Twenty-seventh pupil 

A man does not plant a tree for himself but for posterity. 

— Alex. Smith 

Twenty-eighth pupil 

Smile, flowers, along the way, 

Your dainty beauty stirs 

Such blessed thoughts, ye little comforters. 



"3 

Twenty-ninth pupil 

Plant trees and care for them. They will repay you 
for many years to come in fruit and nuts and flowers; 
and will afford protection for man, beast, and bird against 
the piercing rays of old Sol in summer, and the fierce blast 
of old Boreas in winter. Plant trees. — Larrabee 

Thirtieth pupil 

Flowers are the beautiful hieroglyphics of Nature, with 
which she indicates how much she loves us. — Goethe 

Class (in unison) 

Blessed be God for flowers! They are the sweetest 
things that He ever made and forgot to put a soul into. 

Flowers, Sweet Flora's Children 
Song 

Flowers, sweet Flora's children, 

How ye sport and spring! 
Smiling on each bank and brook, 
Mossy marge and woody nook, 

Where the linnets sing. 

Flowers, sweet Flora's children, 

How ye roam and race! 
Down the valley, up the hill. 
With everlasting will, 

Haunting every place. 

— Festival Chimes 



114 

Violets 
Recitation 

Under the green hedges under the snow, 

There do the dear little violets grow; 

Hiding their modest and beautiful heads, 

Under the hawthorne, in soft mossy beds. 

Sweet as the roses and blue as the sky, 

Down there do the dear little violets lie; 

Hiding their heads, where scarce may be seen — 

By the leaves you may know where the violet has been. 

Legend 

The Greeks called this flower "Ion." It is said that 
Jupiter caused the first violet to spring up in the grass, 
when the unhappy lo — changed into a heifer — bent her 
lips to eat. 

Apple Blossoms 
Recitation 

The apple blossoms' shower of pearl. 
Though blent with rosier hue — 

As beautiful as woman's blush. 
As evanescent, too. 

On every bough there is a bud, 

In every bud a flower, 
But scarcely bud or flower will last 

Beyond the present hour. 



115 
Legend 

In Scandinavian mythology, the goddess Iduma is said 
to have charge of the apples. They contained the miracu- 
lous property of giving everlasting life to those who would 
eat them. For this reason they were kept for the gods 
when they felt themselves growing old. 

An evil spirit carried off Iduma and the wonderful 
apple tree, and hid them away in the forest, where the 
deities were unable to find them. 

Everything went wrong, both in the heavens and on the 
earth. The gods grew old and infirm, and becoming en- 
feebled in mind and body, could not regulate the affairs 
of this planet, and mortals, having no one to look after 
them, fell into evil ways. Matters grew worse daily, and 
the gods, combining the remains of their strength, over- 
came the Evil Spirit, Loki, and compelled him to return 
the stolen apple tree, since which time everything has gone 
on smoothly for the victors. 



Anemone 
Recitation 

Little Anemone, 
So frail and so fair, 

Blooming so brave. 
In the cold spring air. 

Sweet little messenger, 
Hastening to tell 



ii6 

Summer is coming 

And all will be well. 
Out of the darkness, 

Springing to life, 
So brave and so tiny 

In this great world of strife. 
Standing so firm, 

Though swayed by the breeze, 
Seeming to say 

By its pure petaled leaves — 
"Out of the darkness 

Shall come forth life, 
God in His wisdom 

Has made day and night." 

Legend 

The name ''Wind -flower" is often given to this beauti- 
ful little plant, which originally came from the countries 
along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 

According to mythology, Anemone was a nymph who 
was greatly beloved by Zephyrus, the God of Wind, and 
Flora, being jealous of her exceeding beauty, banished 
her from court, and finally transformed her into the deli- 
cate flower which bears her name — Anemone. 

Daisies 
Recitation 

Sweet, modest flowers, like stars of light. 

How simply ye are shining; 
How pure and lovely, and how bright, 



117 

Ye bend as if n meek delight, 

To beauty's soft reclining; 
Gay blossoms come to greet the spring, 

We gladly give them praises; 
And while their tributes still they bring, 
Of blooming beauty, we will sing, 

Our welcome to the daisies. 

Legend 

This little flower owes its origin to Belides, one of the 
dryads, who presided over the woodland. 

It is fabled that whilst this damsel was dancing with 
her favored suitor, she attracted the attention of Ver- 
tumnus the guardian deity of orchards, and to escape his 
persecution was changed into a daisy or "day's eye," 
which opens and closes with the sun. 



The Forget-me-not 
Recitation 

There is a pretty little flower, 
Of sky-blue tint and white, 

That glitters in the sunshine 
And goes to sleep at night. 

'Tis a token of remembrance. 
And a pretty name it's got, 

Would you know it, if I told you? 
'Tis the sweet forget-me-not. 



ii8 
Legend 

When God the Lord had made the whole wide world, 
and saw that it was good, he sent all the animals to Adam, 
that he should give to each a name; but all the flowers 
He placed before Himself, and went from one to another, 
telling each its name, so that they all knew by what they 
were to be called. 

But one little flower looked up so happily with its bright 
blue eyes at the blessed Lord, opening its golden heart to 
Him, it forgot itself, and so did not know its name. It 
was very much ashamed, and bowed its blossoms and 
buds, saying: "Ah! dear Lord, be not angry with me. 
I could not help g:izing at Thee, till I forgot everything, 
even the name Thou gavest me. Wilt Thou tell it me 
again, and I will not forget?" Then God looked kindly 
down upon the little flower at his feet. ''I am not angry 
with you," He said, "that you forgot yourself is no sin. 
Be mindful now, I give thee for a name, 'Forget-me-not,'" 
by which name it has been known to this day. 

Hepatica 

Girls in concert 

Ere snows have left the woodland ways 

On sunny morns of April days, 

I find thee smiling as in glee. 

And peeping through the grass at me. 

The alder bushes barely show 

Their golden tassels o'er the snow; 

And pussy willow's silky cap 



^ 



119 

Proclaims her yet unbroken nap. 

But thou, bright flower, brimful of mirth, 

Art here, to welcome April's birth; 

A sign to us that not in vain 

Has been the winter's snow and rain. 

— Bailey 

Grass Blades 

Boys in concert 

Peeping, peeping, here and there. 
In lawns and meadows everywhere; 
Coming up to find the spring. 
And hear the robin red -breast sing. 
Creeping under children's feet. 
Glancing at the violets sweet. 
Growing into tiny bowers. 
For the dainty meadow flowers: 
We are small, but think a minute 
Of a world with no grass in it. 

April Flowers 
School in unison 

The Spring Beauties wake 

For the girls and the boys, 
And earth groweth green 

Without bustle or noise; 
From tiny brown buds. 

Wrapped fold upon fold, 
The loveliest garlands 

Will soon be unrolled. 



120 

The pretty white catkins 

Are soft to the touch, 
And Alders, we loved them 

In childhood so much: 
While bending above them 

On yonder hillside, 
The Dogwood is dressed 

As a beautiful bride. 

Ah! welcome, sweet April, 

Whose feet on the hills, 
Have walked down the valleys 

And crossed o^er the rills; 
The pearls that you bring us 

Are dews and warm showers. 
And the hem of your garments 

Is broidered with flowers. 

— M. /. Smith 



The Tree and Man 

Clarence M. Weed 

(Let a pupil represent each tree and have in hand a leaf or twig, 
or a picture to illustrate it.) 

White Oak Tree 

We are gathered here to-day 
Our respects to man to pay, 
And to show that we are grateful 
For his Arbor Day so fateful. 

So let us all as we recall 

Our pleasures through the spring and fall, 

Report the joy we give to Man; 

And rhyme the story when we can. 

Aspen Tree 

In spring when leaves are yet unseen 
I show to Man the fairest green 
In all the woods. My bark when wet 
Is tinged with gray and green and jet. 

Large-toothed Aspen 

My fairest show I make in spring 

When warblers through the branches sing; 



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My young white leaves I then display 
Against a field of green and gray. 

Cottonwood 

In city streets where smoke lies thickly 
I gather sunshine and grow quickly, 
Shedding from leaves that brightly shine 
The dust that makes most trees to pine. 

Willow Tree 

I hold the rivers in their courses; 

My tangled roots have strength that forces 

The rushing waters on their way, 

And thus prevents their harmful play. 

Alder Tree 

I also help to guide the rivers; 

And when in March the landscape shivers 

With cold so fierce, my drooping catkins I do bring 

To show a promise of the spring. 

Sugar Maple Tree 

Since long ago, wise men have made 
Their sweet from sap beneath my shade: 
The maple sugar that you see 
Is taken from the sugar tree. 

Red Maple Tree 

I light the landscape with my flame: 
In spring and autumn I proclaim 



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The beauty found in fruit and leaf 
E'en though their Hfe be very brief, 

Apple Tree 

In spring see children clap their hands 
When I light up the fruitful lands; 
And note in autumn with what glee 
They rush to gather fruit from me. 

Hawthorne Tree 

In May when birds so sweetly sing 
I crown the glory of the spring; 
My leaves and blossoms fair to see 
Have gained a wide celebrity. 

Horse Chestnut Tree 

In spring when winds are strong and sweet 
I send my perfume forth to greet 
The ladened air: my blossoms dear 
The landscape light from far and near. 

Tulip Tree 

Little children love to see 
Leaves and flowers of Tulip tree : 
While in June the bumble-bee 
Gathers nectar, blithe and free. 

Locust Tree 

In airs of June when leaves are new 
I send my blossoms forth to view 



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Of bees and Man. The bees swarm fast 
To gather food for Man's repast. 

Mountain Laurel Tree 

On the sombre mountain side 

Where most the darksome shades abide, 

I bring in June the fairest show 

Of leaves and flowers that Man may know. 

Sassafras Tree 

In spicy bark I yield to man 

A taste and odor such as ran 

Through ships and cargoes long since sent 

From far-famed isles of Orient. 

Chestnut Tree 

See children flock to my abode, 

So eager for their happy load; 

When beautiful blossoms are sadly lost 

By the blight of the white autumnal frost. 

Beech Tree 

Tired men have come to me for shade: 
For weary ages have they lain 
Beneath my branches; and as food 
They have found my nutlets good. 

Elm Tree 

I show to Man most grateful arches, 
As down the village street he marches, 



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And keep from him the fierce sunshine 
By leaves and branches green and fine. 

Norway Spruce Tree 

A fair pyramid that may be seen 
From far and near, and always green, 
I hold erect before men's eyes 
A beauty that they highly prize. 

Fir Balsam Tree 

Sweet balms of healing I do bring, 

To winds that through my branches sing, 

While in the cells along my sides 

Is stored a lotion that abides. 

White Pine Tree 

Men find for me so many uses 
That I have suffered great abuses; 
But now the lesson is so plain 
That they are planting me again. 

Canoe Birch Tree 

Those men who on the water go, 
In search of food or friend or foe, 
Have found the help of my tough bark 
The surest way to reach their mark. 

Sumach Tree 

When the Painter of Autumn o'er the fair land pours 
The hues and the tints from his rainbow stores, 



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To me he gives tones of crimson and red, 
Till far o'er the landscape his glory is spread. 

Holly 

When Winter spreads abroad his fear, 
I hasten forth to bring good cheer 
Of green leaf?[^,o and red berries, 
And with me come the festal fairies. 

Lomhardy Poplar Trees 

I rise above the other trees 
Like mountains seen from over seas; 
And point the thoughts of men on high 
To stars that rise above the sky. 



Why We Keep Arbor Day 

(For seven children. As they take places upon stage, those in 
seats recite first stanza.) 

Trees of the fragrant forest, 

With leaves of green unfurled, 
Through summer's heat, through winter's cold. 

What do you for our world ? 

First pupil 

Our green leaves catch the raindrops 

That fall with soothing sound, 
Then drop them slowly, slowly down, 

'Tis better for the ground. 

Second pupil 

When rushing down the hillside, 

A mighty freshet forms. 
Our giant trunks and spreading roots 
Defend our happy homes. 

Third pupil 

From burning heat in summer, 

We offer cool retreat. 

Protect the land in winter's storm 

From cold and wind and sleet. 

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Fourth pupil 

Our falling leaves in autumn, 
By breezes turned and tossed, 

Will make a deep sponge- carpet warm, 
Which saves the ground from frost. 

Fijth pupil 

We give you pulp for paper. 

Our fuel gives you heat, 
We furnish lumber for your homes, 

And nuts and fruit to eat. 

Sixth pupil 

Our tiny hidden air-cells 
Have always work to do. 

We take impure air, and make it pure, 
Then breathe it back to you. 

Seventh pupil 

With strong and graceful outline, 
With branches green or bare. 

We fill the land through all the year 
With beauty everywhere. 

All 

So listen, from the forest 
Each one a message sends 

To children on this Arbor Day — 
^^We trees are your best jriends,^^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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